Weaver's Cove Energy, LLC. v. Rhode Island Coastal Res. Mgmt. Council, No. 08-2440
District court's rejection of two regulatory barriers imposed by defendants to plans to build a Liquified Natural Gas terminal in the City of Fall River with a berth in Massachusetts coastal waters of Mount Hope Bay is affirmed where: 1)the Court has Article III jurisdiction to decide the matter; 2) district court did not err in holding that defendant's failure to respond within six months to plaintiff's application for federal consistency review requires there be a presumption of concurrence is the project, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. section 1456(c)(3)(A) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972; and 3)defendant's use of its state law licensing program for alterations to the coast to block the project is preempted by the Natural Gas Act.
Read Weaver's Cove Energy, LLC. v. Rhode Island Coastal Res. Mgmt. Council, No. 08-2440
Appellate Information
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Decided October 26, 2009
Judges
Before: Lynch, Torruella, and Ripple, Circuit Judges
Opinion by: Lynch, Circuit Judge
Counsel
For Appellant: Michael Rubin, Assistant Attorney General, Patrick C. Lynch, Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island, Paul J. Roberti, Assistant Attorney General, Brian A. Goldman, and the Goldman Law Offices
For Appellee: Bruce F. Kiely, Adam J. White, Baker Botts L.L.P., Gregory L. Benik, and Benik and Associates P.C.