Congress quietly rewrites rules to block environmental lawsuits against gas pipelines
S. 4300 — JOAN Act · Filed by Tom Cotton (R-AR) · Introduced Apr 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill streamlines federal permitting for natural gas infrastructure by making the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the sole lead agency for environmental review, requiring other agencies to coordinate on tight timelines, and severely restricting judicial challenges to approved projects. Citizens lose the ability to sue to block or delay projects after a 60-day window; courts cannot issue long-term injunctions or remand decisions for correction; and a novel "multiplicative probability" standard makes preliminary injunctions nearly impossible to obtain.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is not permitting streamlining (subsection 2 is routine coordination); it is the elimination of meaningful judicial review for natural gas projects (subsection 3). The title emphasizes "interagency coordination," but subsection 3 is the bill's teeth—it rewrites the rules for who can sue, when, and what remedies courts can grant.
What the text implies
- The 'multiplicative probability' standard in subsection c(4)(C) is a novel legal doctrine not found in existing Administrative Procedure Act jurisprudence. It requires courts to multiply the probability of success on standing, final agency action, and merits—a mathematical construct that makes preliminary injunctions mathematically unlikely to succeed even if each element has a 75% probability ind
- Subsection c(4)(D) creates an automatic approval if courts do not rule within 180 days. This creates pressure on courts to rule quickly and may incentivize judges to uphold permits rather than remand for further review, since delay results in automatic approval.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
natural gas pipeline operators and developers; liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal operators; energy infrastructure companies