Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-1039_8n5a.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2020 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

PENNEAST PIPELINE CO., LLC v. NEW JERSEY ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

No. 19–1039.  Argued April 28, 2021—Decided June 29, 2021 

Congress passed the Natural Gas Act in 1938 to regulate the transpor-
tation and sale of natural gas in interstate commerce.  To build an in-
terstate pipeline, a natural gas company must obtain from the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission a certificate reflecting that such con-
struction “is or will be required by the present or future public conven-
ience and necessity.”  15 U. S. C. §717f(e).  As originally enacted, the 
NGA  did  not  provide  a  mechanism  for  certificate  holders  to  secure 
property rights  necessary  to  build  pipelines,  often  leaving  certificate 
holders with only an illusory right to build.  Congress remedied this
defect in 1947 by amending the NGA to authorize certificate holders to 
exercise the federal eminent domain power, thereby ensuring that cer-
tificates of public convenience and necessity could be given effect.   See 
§717f(h).

FERC granted petitioner PennEast Pipeline Co. a certificate of pub-
lic  convenience  and  necessity  authorizing  construction  of  a  116-mile 
pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.  Several parties, including 
respondent New Jersey, petitioned for review of FERC’s order in the 
D. C. Circuit.  The D. C. Circuit has held those proceedings in abeyance
pending resolution of this case.  PennEast filed various complaints in
Federal District Court in New Jersey seeking to exercise the federal 
eminent  domain  power  under  §717f(h)  to  obtain  rights-of-way  along 
the  pipeline  route  approved  by  FERC.    As  relevant  here,  PennEast 
sought to condemn parcels of land in which either New Jersey or the
New Jersey Conservation Foundation asserts a property interest.  New 
Jersey moved to dismiss PennEast’s complaints on sovereign immun-
ity  grounds.    The  District  Court  denied  the  motion,  and  it  granted
PennEast’s requests for a condemnation order and preliminary injunc-
tive relief.  The Third Circuit vacated the District Court’s order insofar