Religious organization opposed to the extraction, transportation, and use of fossil fuels brought action for money damages, challenging the construction and operation of gas pipeline on property owned by organization as violative of its rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the action. Organization appealed.
The Court of Appeals held that action was impermissible collateral attack on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order concerning certification of interstate gas pipeline.
Cause of action asserted by religious organization opposed to the extraction, transportation, and use of fossil fuels seeking money damages under the RFRA for the construction and operation of gas pipeline on property owned by organization was impermissible collateral attack on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order concerning the certification of interstate gas pipeline; organization could have and should have raised its RFRA claim before FERC, it was inescapably intertwined with pipeline’s route, construction, and operation, which was authorized after extensive, public proceedings before FERC as required by the Natural Gas Act (NGA).