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The Third Circuit’s refusal to rehear the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) case leaves New Jersey’s Clean Water Act Section 401 certification vacated. Transco therefore cannot proceed with New Jersey construction under that permit, and the company has warned that the disruption could put its November 1, 2027 in-service date and planned deliveries for the 2027–28 heating season at risk. The project is not legally dead: New Jersey’s environmental agency can supply additional analysis, issue a revised certification or reach a different result on remand.
What did the Third Circuit rule?
The court’s September 8, 2026 precedential opinion in Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection granted environmental groups’ petitions, vacated NJDEP’s water-quality certification for NESE and sent the matter back to the agency.
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The judges identified three central defects:
- NJDEP left material monitoring and adaptive-management requirements unresolved.
- The certification did not make agency approval of final monitoring and response plans a prerequisite to dredging.
- The agency did not adequately explain how dredging in Raritan Bay would satisfy New Jersey water-quality standards.
The remedy is limited to New Jersey’s certification. It does not itself cancel every federal or interstate approval for NESE, and it does not dictate what NJDEP must decide after remand. Circuit Judge Jane Richards Roth wrote that the court would “grant the petitions, vacate the Water Quality Certification, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Why can the ruling threaten the 2027 in-service date?
Transco told the court that New Jersey work had to begin in 2026 and finish in 2027 because the schedule combines onshore and offshore construction, compressor-station work, permit conditions and seasonal restrictions. A restart or redesign of the permitting sequence could consume time that the integrated schedule does not have.
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Compressor Station 206 in Somerset County is a critical-path element requiring about 13 months to build, according to Engineering News-Record’s account of Transco’s filings. The New Jersey package also includes the 3.4-mile Madison Loop in Middlesex County and roughly six miles of offshore Raritan Bay Loop. Although the court’s environmental findings focused on the bay crossing, the vacated certification covers all three New Jersey components.
Transco said a delayed start could jeopardize the November 1, 2027 service date and the additional gas intended for National Grid during the 2027–28 winter heating season. That is a schedule warning from the project sponsor, not a judicial finding that the date has already been missed.
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Williams describes NESE as an expansion of the existing Transco system across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Its current project description lists the following facilities:
| Component | Location | Published scope |
|---|---|---|
| Quarryville Loop | Pennsylvania | 10.1 miles |
| Madison Loop | New Jersey | 3.4 miles |
| Raritan Bay Loop | New Jersey waters | 6.2 miles of new offshore pipe |
| Offshore pipeline | New York waters | 17.3 miles |
| Pipeline looping | Queens and Richmond counties | Additional looping; mileage not stated on the project page |
| Overall project | Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York | About 37 miles of pipeline and related facilities; cost reported by ENR as more than $1 billion |
How much gas capacity would NESE add?
Williams says the expansion is designed to add about 400,000 dekatherms per day of transportation capacity. The company equates that daily volume to the natural-gas needs of approximately 2.3 million homes. The U.S. Department of Energy repeated those figures at the project’s 2026 groundbreaking and described the planned service target as the fourth quarter of 2027.
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A dekatherm is a unit of gas energy used in pipeline and utility contracting; the capacity figure describes transportation available each day, not a guarantee that every home will consume that amount.
What environmental issue led to the permit being vacated?
The Raritan Bay crossing requires dredging sediment that the court opinion says may contain arsenic, manganese, mercury, PCBs and 4,4′-DDE. The dispute was not simply whether those substances exist. The court found that NJDEP had not completed the enforceable monitoring and adaptive-management framework needed to respond if dredging released contaminants or caused excessive turbidity.
The certification contemplated later plans, but it did not require NJDEP to approve those final plans before dredging could start. In the court’s view, that sequencing left a material safeguard unresolved while allowing construction to move toward the activity most likely to disturb contaminated sediment.
Can NJDEP issue the permit again?
Yes. The remand leaves NJDEP several lawful paths, but none guarantees the original schedule. The agency may supplement its explanation, require additional technical analyses, issue a new or revised certification, or reach a different conclusion about whether the project satisfies state water-quality requirements.
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Any replacement decision would need to address the court’s identified gaps, including who approves monitoring and adaptive-management plans, what contaminant and turbidity triggers apply, and what response is mandatory if conditions worsen. Until a valid certification is in place, New Jersey work cannot proceed under the vacated one. Christopher Miller of the Eastern Environmental Law Center summarized the environmental groups’ position after rehearing was denied: “The court’s decision vacating the water quality certification stands and construction in New Jersey cannot go forward.”
What is the current court and permit timeline?
| Date | Event | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| November 7, 2025 | NJDEP approved the NESE water-quality certificate and related wetlands, coastal, flood-hazard and waterfront permits. | State approvals were issued before the federal appellate challenge. |
| September 8, 2026 | Third Circuit vacated the Section 401 certification and remanded to NJDEP. | The New Jersey permit could no longer support construction. |
| October 22, 2026 | Third Circuit denied panel and en banc rehearing. | The vacatur remained in force. |
| October 29, 2026 | ENR reported that the court mandate was expected to issue. | The mandate formalizes the appellate judgment unless a later court action changes the schedule. |
| November 1, 2027 | Transco’s stated in-service target. | The date is exposed to permitting and construction slippage. |
As of October 26, no request for a stay of the mandate appeared on the Third Circuit docket. A later Supreme Court filing or stay would change the procedural picture, so the docket should be checked for developments after that date.
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What remains unresolved for investors, contractors and communities?
The immediate question is whether NJDEP can produce an approvable certification quickly enough for the New Jersey work to retain its sequence. Future filings should be evaluated by five practical tests:
- Whether dredging may legally begin under the replacement approval.
- Which agency or official approves monitoring and adaptive-management plans before work starts.
- How contaminant releases and turbidity are measured, limited and remedied.
- Whether Station 206’s roughly 13-month critical-path build can still fit before service.
- How much confidence remains in the November 2027 target after any revised construction calendar.
A separate FERC-related challenge was still listed as pending by the Natural Resources Defense Council’s litigation tracker. That proceeding is distinct from the New Jersey certification case and means NESE’s broader legal status is not yet final.
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What should happen next?
NJDEP must act on the remand, while Transco and affected communities will follow the agency’s technical submissions, any revised permit language and the federal court docket. The project can still move forward if the state develops a legally adequate certification and the resulting schedule remains workable, but the prior approval cannot simply be used as though the appellate ruling had not occurred.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the decision cancel the Pennsylvania and New York portions of NESE?
No. The Third Circuit vacated New Jersey’s Section 401 certification. Pennsylvania and New York facilities may face their own permits and litigation, but this ruling did not directly vacate approvals for those states.
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It is a state certification that a federally licensed or permitted project will comply with applicable water-quality requirements. Federal authorization generally cannot proceed without the required state certification, or a legally effective waiver.
Where can the public see NJDEP’s next decision?
NJDEP is expected to post remand-related filings and permit materials on its NESE project page. The Third Circuit docket will show the mandate, any stay request and later appellate filings.
Why are compressor stations important to a gas pipeline expansion?
Compressors maintain pressure so gas can move through a larger or longer system. A station on the critical path can therefore determine when the connected loops and customer deliveries are ready, even if other pipe sections finish earlier.
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