Stop the CON

2012-2014: The Constitution Pipeline is proposed and receives federal approval.

Williams began the federal review process for the Constitution Pipeline in 2012 and formally applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in June 2013. FERC conducted an environmental review of the pipeline and related Wright Interconnect Project and issued certificates authorizing the projects in December 2014. Stop the Pipeline and environmental groups challenged the certificates in the Second Circuit in 2016, after waiting a year for FERC to issue a final order on their requests for rehearing

The 2014 federal approval did not eliminate the need for other required permits. Among them was a Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for the portion of the pipeline crossing New York.

2016: New York denies a required water quality certification.

During its review, DEC repeatedly sought additional information from Constitution about the pipeline’s potential impacts on New York’s water resources, including information about alternative routes and methods for crossing streams.

On April 22, 2016, DEC denied Constitution’s application for a Section 401 water quality certification, concluding that the company had failed to provide sufficient information for the state to determine whether the project would comply with New York water quality standards. Without the certification, the pipeline could not move forward as originally approved.

Stop the Pipeline and environmental groups challenged the certificates in the Second Circuit in 2016, after waiting a year for FERC to issue a final order on their requests for rehearing.

2017-2018: Federal courts leave New York’s decision in place.

Constitution challenged DEC’s decision in federal court. In August 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the denial, finding that DEC had acted within its authority and that the information it requested was relevant to its review.

Constitution sought further review, but the Second Circuit declined to rehear the case. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Constitution’s appeal, leaving the ruling in place.

2019-2020: A separate court ruling changes the regulatory landscape before Constitution abandons the project.

The legal and regulatory fight continued. FERC had previously rejected Constitution’s argument that New York waived its authority to decide the project’s Section 401 water quality certification, finding that DEC had acted within the required timeframe.

That changed after a January 2019 decision in an unrelated case, Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC. In that case, a federal appeals court ruled that repeatedly withdrawing and resubmitting the same Section 401 application could not be used to restart the Clean Water Act’s one-year deadline for state review. Following that decision, FERC reconsidered Constitution’s case and determined in August 2019 that New York had waived its Section 401 authority because Constitution had withdrawn and resubmitted its application during DEC’s review. New York disputed FERC’s application of the Hoopa Valley decision to Constitution’s case in a petition to the Second Circuit. Stop the Pipeline and environmental groups intervened.

Ultimately, the project did not move forward. In 2020, Constitution’s developers announced that they would no longer pursue the pipeline.

2021: The previous federal approvals are vacated.

Legal proceedings over the earlier FERC decisions continued after the project was abandoned. FERC filed a motion to dismiss the cases challenging its 2014 certificates and 2019 waiver order. Stop the Pipeline filed a cross motion asking the Second Circuit to vacate all of the orders. On Nov. 18, 2021, the Second Circuit vacated FERC’s certificate authorizing the Constitution Pipeline and related orders concerning New York’s Section 401 authority. The court remanded the cases to FERC with instructions to dismiss the underlying agency proceedings.

For communities that had spent years fighting the project, the Constitution Pipeline appeared to be over.

2025: The Constitution Pipeline returns.

Five years after abandoning the project, Constitution began taking steps to revive it.

On May 30, 2025, Constitution submitted a new application to DEC seeking a Section 401 water quality certification. DEC subsequently issued notices seeking additional information from the company. Constitution withdrew its application on Nov. 7, 2025, before DEC issued a final decision.

Then, on Dec. 19, 2025, Constitution petitioned FERC to reissue the 2014 certificate authorizing the pipeline and reaffirm FERC’s 2019 determination that New York had waived its authority to issue or deny the project’s Section 401 certification.

The request raised a fundamental legal dispute: The federal orders Constitution is seeking to revive were among those vacated by the Second Circuit in 2021. New York officials, environmental organizations, and community groups argue that FERC cannot simply reissue those previous approvals and that Constitution must instead begin a new federal application and review process. Constitution maintains that FERC has the authority to reissue the approvals.

2026: The fight returns to FERC and federal court.

In January 2026, the New York Attorney General, Stop the Pipeline, and environmental organizations pressed FERC to comply with the Second Circuit’s 2021 order directing the agency to dismiss the earlier proceedings. On Jan. 23, FERC issued an Order on Remand formally confirming that those proceedings were dismissed, while continuing to consider Constitution’s new petition.

The related Wright Interconnect Project soon followed. On Feb. 13, Iroquois Gas Transmission System petitioned FERC to reissue federal authorization for the project that would connect Constitution with the existing interstate pipeline network at Wright, New York.

Meanwhile, the dispute over FERC’s handling of the revived projects returned to court. In May, the New York Attorney General on behalf of DEC, Stop the Pipeline, and several environmental organizations filed separate petitions for review with the Second Circuit challenging FERC’s 2026 actions. The litigation is ongoing.

At the same time, FERC moved forward with a new environmental review. After opening a public scoping period in April, FERC issued an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Constitution Pipeline and Wright Interconnect Project on Aug. 21, 2026. The assessment relies in part on the environmental analysis conducted for the project more than a decade ago. DEC asked FERC to prepare a new Environmental Impact Statement instead, arguing that a more comprehensive review is necessary.

FERC opened the EA for public comment through Sept. 21, 2026. With that comment period now closed, FERC is continuing its review of the proposed Constitution Pipeline and Wright Interconnect Project. FERC’s environmental review schedule identifies Nov. 19, 2026, as the federal authorization decision deadline for other federal agencies responsible for issuing permits or approvals for the projects.

More than a decade after the Constitution Pipeline was first proposed, communities across Pennsylvania and New York are once again confronting a project many believed had been stopped for good.