A federal appeals court appears likely to uphold the Trump administration’s authorization to build a deepwater liquefied natural gas port off the coast of Louisiana.
The Maritime Administration, or MARAD, issued a license for Delfin LNG — a first-of-its-kind U.S. project — last year. Environmental groups sued, claiming that the approval violated federal law.
But during oral arguments on Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned whether the environmental groups had established legal standing to bring a case against the Department of Transportation agency. The three-judge panel also appeared skeptical of the substance of the challengers’ claims, in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling on the deference courts should give to agency decision-making.
The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups claim MARAD abruptly approved a final license for Delfin LNG without receiving an amended application it had previously said it needed to account for “widespread changes” in the project’s design, financing and ownership.
