On May 21, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed changes to its natural gas blanket certificate regulations to expand the scope and scale of projects that interstate natural gas pipelines may construct without a case-specific authorization order, and to increase the cost limits for such projects. In a companion order issued the same day, FERC extended a previously granted temporary waiver so that projects constructed and placed in service by May 31, 2028 may continue to rely on an increased prior-notice cost limit.

The Natural Gas Act (NGA) provides that natural gas companies may not construct or abandon jurisdictional facilities, or transport and sell natural gas in interstate commerce for resale, without first obtaining Commission approval. To help implement this authority, FERC has established a blanket certificate program under which interstate pipelines that hold a certificate of public convenience and necessity under NGA section 7(c) may obtain a blanket certificate to undertake certain activities either automatically or, for higher-impact projects, after prior notice. FERC has explained that the blanket certificate program is intended to be restricted to projects that FERC views as modest in scale and routine in nature such that the projects will not result in unjustified increases in existing customers’ rates. Under the existing program, certain smaller, well-understood construction, replacement, and rearrangement activities below a lower cost threshold may proceed under automatic authorization, while higher-cost activities must proceed under prior notice. Specifically, blanket certificate activities are currently limited to a maximum cost of $14.5 million per project undertaken without prior notice (automatic projects) and—absent the currently effective waiver—$41.1 million per project undertaken subject to prior notice. Further, a certificate holder may undertake certain underground storage testing and development activities without prior notice if the total annual cost does not exceed $7.9 million.

On June 18, 2025, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on whether, and if so how, it should modify the blanket program’s cost limits and related requirements. On the same day, FERC granted a temporary waiver increasing the prior-notice cost limit to $61.65 million for projects constructed and placed in service by May 31, 2027, subject to additional accounting and reporting conditions.

On May 21, 2026, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to revise

to the blanket certificate program, including changes to the blanket certificate cost limits; the index used for annual cost adjustments; the rate treatment and protest procedures for prior‑notice projects; and several modifications to project eligibility, environmental review, and landowner‑notification requirements. In a companion order to the NOPR, FERC extended the temporary waiver of its prior‑notice cost limit granted in 2025 to allow projects constructed and placed in service by May 31, 2028 to continue to rely on the increased $61.65 million prior‑notice cost cap. FERC stated that this extension is within its authority to waive its regulations for good cause and consistent with the NGA, and explained that extending the waiver’s in‑service deadline is intended to allow additional projects to make use of the higher cost limit while the NOPR is pending and to provide regulatory certainty during the rulemaking process.

Key changes proposed in the NOPR include:

1. Increasing the Blanket Certificate Cost Limits.
FERC states that the record shows construction costs for natural gas facilities have increased faster than the existing annual adjustments to the blanket cost limits. The NOPR proposes to increase the cost limits to $86 million for prior-notice projects, $30 million for automatic authorization projects, and $17 million for storage testing projects.

2. Annual Cost Adjustments.
The NOPR proposes to replace the GDP deflator with the Handy-Whitman Index for gas transmission facilities as the index used for annual cost-limit adjustments. FERC explains that it considers the Handy-Whitman Index, with its narrower focus on gas utility construction costs, to better reflect changes in the costs experienced by natural gas companies.

3. Rate Treatment for Blanket Certificate Projects.
FERC proposes to allow pipelines to charge incremental rates for projects constructed under the prior notice procedures, with supporting rate calculations and exhibits subject to protest, while continuing to grant automatic predeterminations of rolled-in rate treatment for blanket projects that use existing system rates. For prior-notice mainline expansions, applicants seeking rolled-in treatment would be required to demonstrate that a project benefits existing customers, and pipelines would be required to identify the purpose and beneficiaries of blanket projects to assist in future NGA sections 4 and 5 rate proceedings.

4. Protest Procedures for Prior-Notice Projects.
FERC proposes to retain its current regulations governing what parties may protest prior-notice applications, and declines at this time to limit protests to those parties with a substantial economic interest, FERC staff, and affected landowners. The NOPR, however, seeks comment on potential eligibility criteria for protestors, on whether elements of FERC’s intervention standard should be applied to protests, on how to treat membership organizations, and on whether FERC should establish a general timeframe for acting on protested prior-notice filings.

5. Extension of the In-Service Requirement.
The NOPR proposes to extend, from one year to two years, the period within which blanket-authorized projects must be completed and placed in service, with procedures for requesting extensions and for notifying the FERC when delays are due to a shipper’s inability to accept service.

6. Cost Limits and Treatment of Specific Facilities.
FERC proposes to remove cost limits for new receipt points and to authorize them under automatic authorization, stating that it views receipt points as analogous to delivery points, which are already authorized automatically. For abandonment projects, FERC proposes to base eligibility for automatic or prior-notice authorization on the actual cost of abandonment, rather than on the cost of modern replacement. The NOPR would allow automatic abandonment of certain storage wells where abandonment does not change certificated storage field parameters, and would retain case-specific review for abandonments that do.

7. Mainline Facilities, Compressor Station Expansions, and Temporary Workspaces.
The NOPR proposes to include certain mainline facilities and expansions of existing compressor stations within an existing fence line within the blanket program, subject to specified conditions and environmental review, and seeks comment on whether some mainline facilities should qualify for automatic authorization. FERC states that companies needing additional temporary workspace for replacement projects may continue to rely on blanket certificate authority, and it declines to revise its separate regulations under section 2.55(b) of its regulations.

8. Environmental, Historic Preservation, Reporting, and Public Notification.
FERC proposes to retain existing National Historic Preservation Act and Endangered Species Act thresholds for blanket projects but to clarify the role of certificate holders in carrying out those responsibilities, and to revise its environmental regulations to clarify the treatment of certain blanket projects under the FERC’s categorical exclusions. The NOPR also proposes to expand and specify landowner-notification requirements for automatic and prior-notice projects and to require pipelines to provide additional information in applications and annual reports, including the purpose and beneficiaries of blanket projects. The NOPR includes additional technical and conforming revisions to the blanket and environmental regulations.

Comments on the NOPR are due 60 days after the date of its publication in the Federal Register. A copy of FERC’s decision, filed in Docket No. RM25‑12‑001, can be found here, and a copy of FERC’s decision, filed in Docket No. CP25‑208‑002, can be found here.