The Constitution Pipeline Company (Company) filed an application for a 401 water quality certification with the DEC on May 30, 2025 and withdrew it on November 7, 2025. The footnote at the bottom of page one of the withdrawal letter lays out Constitution’s legal strategy, which parallels the strategy it used between 2013 and 2021. Constitution lost all of the many legal proceedings it initiated, so it is not on strong legal footing unless the federal laws are changed.
DEC issued three notices of incomplete application during the five months it reviewed Constitution’s application. Constitution’s basic response was that it had already supplied all of the information required under federal law and it did not have to comply with the state’s laws.
- DEC Notice of Incomplete Application (NOIA) 7-2-2025
- CP Responds to DEC 1st NOIA 8-11-25
- CP Responds to DEC 2nd NOIA 9-15-25
Since DEC did not deny Constitution’s application, Constitution does not have to seek judicial review of a denial in the DC Circuit. Instead, on December 19, 2025, Constitution petitioned FERC to re-issue its 2014 Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and re-affirm its 2019 order declaring that DEC waived its right to deny the 401 water quality certification.
DEC and the NY State Office of the Attorney General must now forcefully challenge Constitution’s Petition at FERC and in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Otherwise, the state’s right to protect our water quality will be lost.