Opinion ID: 362301
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Public Interest Determination

Text: 77 The Commission reviewed Northwest's import applications under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act. Northwest lacked all of the required exhibits 88 when it submitted its applications, and under different circumstances, the Commission might have waited until all the information was before it. Congress requires expedited consideration of all applications related to the ANGTS, however, 89 so that the Commission considered the import proposals immediately. The result is the finding under the Natural Gas Act that conditional authorization of the imports is not inconsistent with the public interest 90 because the desirability of importing Alberta gas is clear 91 and importing the gas through pre-built portions of the ANGTS will help expedite completion of the entire transportation system. Conditional authorization, according to the Commission, encompasses no ruling on any matters related to the import authorization applications other than the basic question of whether In general such imports are in the public interest. 92 78 The Commission has reserved for future consideration or reconsideration several questions related to the section 3 authorization of the imports, including its antitrust determination that is intimately involved with the section 3 public interest determination. 93 The Commission also has reserved consideration of Northwest's application under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act, 94 and certification under section 7 normally is necessary before final approval of an import authorization. 95 Despite these open questions, however, the Commission has made its public interest determination. 79 This action is final. There is no hint that the ruling is tentative, and the FERC is unlikely to reconsider its decision before it completes the necessary future proceedings under the Natural Gas Act. 96 In addition, the issue facing the Court involves the purely legal question whether the FERC exceeded its statutory authority in making a general finding that imports are in the public interest without completing proceedings under section 3 or section 7 of the Natural Gas Act. The issue also requires an analysis of the factual basis for the public interest determination, but these facts will not necessarily become more concrete with time. 80 Whether an issue is fit for judicial review does not depend on finality alone, 97 and in this instance, we find that the factors supporting judicial resolution are outweighed by other considerations. Because so many questions are still undecided, and several other issues are open to reexamination by the FERC, it is wiser and more efficient to allow the Commission to continue its decision-making process at least until it grants final authorization, if any, for Northwest's import application. Exhaustion of this administrative process will refine and focus the factual basis upon which both the public interest determination and the overall authorization rest, and will avoid a multiplicity of suits challenging conditional, tentative Commission decisions. If, after final authorization, the challengers claim competitive injury or violation of rights, judicial review will be available, and this Court at that juncture will be better able to analyze the legal and factual questions presented. 98 We therefore conclude that the public interest determination, although final, is not fit for judicial review, and we will withhold consideration unless we find, under the second prong of the Abbott Laboratories test, that such action will harm the challengers.