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10 FEBRUARY 2017 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com STATE BY STATE NEWS STATE SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST CEMA ON NATURAL GAS LAWSUIT The state Supreme Court ruled against a claim that the state should be required to comply with the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA). The claim, in a lawsuit filed by the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, pertains to portions of the state's Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES), which includes a natural gas expansion and conversion plan. In a statement responding to the ruling, CEMA President Chris Herb said, "We are disappointed that the state agency entrusted by the public to protect the environment has spent the last three years focusing their time and money to ensure that they would not have to do an environmental impact evaluation on the state's largest energy infrastructure project in its history. "All we sought was equal applica- tion of the law, but unfortunately the State of Connecticut disagreed," Herb said. "The family owned businesses that CEMA represents are required to comply with environmental laws, while international natural gas utilities are given a complete pass." CEMA said the court's decision seemed to focus "on a very technical issue over the word 'action.' Their interpretation of an action is that the [Connecticut] Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) would have to undertake the activities (by actually laying natural gas pipelines themselves) that harm the environment for the law to apply." The statement added, "Our legal counsel told us from the start that if the state paid for the expansion and conversion project that CEPA clearly applied. The legal question that CEMA asked the Court to consider was focused on the parts of the law that clearly state [that] if an agency takes regulatory action 'proposing or initiating any activity, or sequence of activities, that may adversely affect the environment,' which DEEP did, [then] an Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) is required. "The Court is saying that DEEP is not taking direct 'action,' [therefore] the law does not apply to them," CEMA said in its statement. "This is the issue that was first identified by our legal counsel to us as the one on which the case would ultimately turn," the CEMA statement noted. "But in the lower court, it was not really argued by DEEP's attorneys, and the lower court decided the case against us on different grounds. "The Supreme Court, however, brought the issue front and cen- ter, and it concluded that the only state actions that would justify an EIE are activities performed by state agencies or funded by state agencies," the association said. "We appealed our case because we believed that the lower court improperly ruled against us—the Supreme Court agreed with us, but dismissed our case on this technicality," the association said. CEMA noted that the state Supreme Court's deci- sion was not unanimous. "A dissenting opinion was rendered that agreed with virtually all the points that we raised in our brief," CEMA said. "It stated that an agency need only recommend or propose activities that may adversely impact the environment. Under the dissenting view (and CEMA's view), it matters not whether private parties actually undertake the activities as long as the activities were first recommended by the agency." CEMA said it will now turn its attention to the legislature to address issues with the state's energy policy. "The natural gas plan was based on the false premise that gas is 'cheaper, cleaner and more reliable,' which is no longer the case," the association said. "Energy policy needs to reflect those changes now that oilheat/ Bioheat is less expensive and a cleaner renewable option for home- owners and businesses in Connecticut." The CEMA statement pointed out that the association "exists to promote and protect our industry, and nearly three years ago as an organization we decided for the first time in our six decades of existence to sue the state over the natural gas expansion and conversion plan. "We are obligated to fight our opponents wherever and when- ever they challenge us," the association said. "Regardless of the outcome, our members expect us to do everything in our power and trusts CEMA to fight for what was right on their behalf." Herb said in a Jan. 4 email after the ruling, "I still believe that the natural gas project is a failure from a greenhouse gas reduction perspective and DEEP seems to be recognizing that. I anticipate the Court ruling has little to no impact on the revised energy strategy that will come out in the coming weeks. Connecticut seems to be putting focus on the advantages of Bioheat and the fact that it's cleaner than natural gas, so I believe that that fact will have a bigger impact on the energy plan than the Supreme Court's disappointing ruling." l F O N "All we sought was equal application of the law, but unfortunately the State of Connecticut disagreed. The family owned businesses that CEMA represents are required to comply with environmental laws, while international natural gas utilities are given a complete pass." —Chris Herb, CEMA President