FERC opens comment period on Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America's Amarillo Expansion Project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has opened a scoping period for the Amarillo Expansion Project, a proposal by Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, LLC (Natural) to build and operate facilities in Moore and Deaf Smith counties, Texas. The Commission must receive comments by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 2, 2026.

What FERC will do with the comments

FERC staff will prepare an environmental document on the project's impacts. The Commission will use that document in deciding whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity. The notice describes scoping as the stage where the public and interested agencies tell the Commission which issues the analysis should cover. It is part of the review the National Environmental Policy Act requires before the Commission issues a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

FERC asks that comments focus on potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and ways to avoid or lessen environmental impacts. Staff will consider all written comments as they prepare the document.

Docket and how to file

The project is docketed as CP26-581-000. The docket opened on September 17, 2026. Anyone who sent comments on the project before that date needs to file them again in the docket for them to count in this proceeding.

There are two ways to file online through the FERC website, the eComment feature for brief text-only comments and the eFiling feature for comments attached as files. New eFiling users must register first. Comments can also be mailed to the Commission with the docket number on the letter. The notice lists FERC's online support line as (866) 208-3676.

Landowners and eminent domain

Landowners who receive the notice may be contacted by a Natural representative about an easement to construct, operate and maintain the proposed facilities. The company would seek a mutually acceptable agreement, and landowners are not required to sign one.

If the Commission approves the project, the Natural Gas Act gives the company the right of eminent domain. A landowner and the company that cannot agree on an easement could end up in condemnation proceedings in court, where a judge would set compensation under state law. The notice says the Commission does not grant, exercise or oversee that authority, and that the courts alone handle eminent domain cases.

Natural gave landowners a FERC fact sheet titled "An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?" The notice was published in the Federal Register as FR Doc. 2026-22608 (91 FR 69837).