Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Pipeline Lawsuits

NRDC, alongside a coalition of partner groups represented by Earthjustice, sued the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) after it approved Transco’s application under section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act to build NESE. The agency had previously denied Transco’s applications in 2019 and 2020 after determining that the project was likely to harm water quality in violation of state standards. But in November 2025, NYSDEC reversed itself despite Transco’s admission that its latest application is essentially identical to those it submitted previously.   

Despite this 180-degree turn, the agency’s letter explaining its decision failed to identify specific methods that regulators would use to ensure the water contamination it previously feared would now be avoided. Instead, NYSDEC provided vague assurances that Transco would adopt future measures to avoid contamination. To the extent that NYSDEC provided any explanation at all, it relied on environmental impact data that the public and independent scientists had no opportunity to examine and comment on, as is required by New York and federal laws. By cutting the public out of the process, NYSDEC allowed Transco to dodge public accountability, despite knowing that many New York residents have been concerned about—and opposed to—this pipeline for nearly a decade.   

NRDC’s lawsuit asked the court to set aside NYSDEC’s approval. The lawsuit was filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In August 2026, the Second Circuit denied NRDC’s petition, leaving NYSDEC’s decision in place. 

New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) followed NYSDEC’s lead, issuing a section 401 water-quality certificate for NESE just hours after NYSDEC issued its new decision in November 2025. Like New York, NJDEP’s decision directly contradicts its 2019 decision to reject Transco’s proposal over environmental concerns. Further, NJDEP failed to even acknowledge its 2019 decision in the announcement of its reversal. Instead, the agency pointed its finger squarely at New York, saying that New York’s approval indicated that, unlike in 2020, NESE’s gas is necessary to meet energy demand and therefore must be approved in New Jersey. In so doing, NJDEP shirked its legal obligation to consider environmental impacts—regardless of energy projections for another state—and failed to meaningfully address the public’s concerns.   

NRDC’s challenge to NJDEP’s decision was consolidated with a parallel lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups and New Jersey landowners represented by the Eastern Environmental Law Center. This broad coalition asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to set aside NJDEP’s approval of Transco’s application. 

In a September 2026 opinion, the court did just that, voiding NJDEP’s permit and forcing Transco back to the drawing board. Among other things, the court agreed with NRDC that that NJDEP failed to support its conclusions that pollution levels would remain below safety thresholds, and that dredging would not harm native creatures such as shellfish. The court also concluded that NJDEP had unlawfully authorized Transco to proceed without assurance that the company would appropriately monitor contaminant levels or respond appropriately if those contaminant levels exceeded regulatory thresholds. 

Transco has asked the court for a rehearing in a bid to keep its permit in place—and to allow construction to proceed. We are awaiting a decision from the court on Transco’s rehearing request. 

NRDC and a coalition of partner groups represented by Earthjustice also filed suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit over its purported “reissuance” of an old certification for NESE that FERC had previously vacated. FERC is the federal regulatory agency that oversees interstate natural gas pipelines like NESE. The lawsuit asks the court to reverse arbitrary, unprecedented procedural maneuvers that FERC deployed to accelerate approval of NESE, skirt public input requirements, and avoid analysis of the project’s environmental impacts. Briefing for this third NESE lawsuit was completed in July 2026, and we are awaiting a date for oral argument before the circuit court