A company planning to build a $1 billion, 118.8-mile natural gas pipeline running from Luzerne County to Mercer County, New Jersey, including through parts of Carbon County, will have to wait months longer than anticipated before learning whether the federal government will approve the project.

PennEast submitted its formal application on Sept. 24, 2015, and had asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to decide by Aug. 1.But FERC has announced it won't say yea or nay until March 2017.FERC spokeswoman Celeste Miller said early Friday that the schedule for environmental review for the project, issued today, "is the first announcement posted by staff on their review of the project."According to the notice, Dec. 16, 2016, is the date FERC intends to complete the final environmental impact statement for the project.Other federal agencies whose approval is needed have until March 16, 2017, to make their decisions, she said.That includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Clean Air Act certification and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Clean Water Act certification.However, "This latter date has no bearing whatsoever on when the commission - currently comprised of four presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed commissioners - will make their decision on the project. The commissioners will begin their review of the complete record in the case after FERC staff's conclusions and recommendations are published in the final environmental impact statement."The company and opponents of the pipeline had predictably different reactions to the news."The Notice of Schedule should be viewed as the key milestone it is for the development of the PennEast pipeline project. It enables PennEast to take the next steps with plans to build the PennEast pipeline project to alleviate existing system constraints, increase reliability and deliver reduced costs to local natural gas and electric consumers," said PennEast spokeswoman Patricia Kornick."Whether it be the construction of a highway, bridge or underground pipeline, many variables are factored into proposed timelines of most major infrastructure projects, including the PennEast pipeline project," Kornick said."PennEast is evaluating how the Notice of Schedule might affect its initial proposed timeline and has not revised its current November 2017 in-service date."PennEast looks forward to continuing through the process. Upon completion, energy consumers throughout the region will receive numerous long-term benefits from a state-of-the-art pipeline," she said.Pipeline opponent Linda Christman of Towamensing Township, which has the most landowners who would be affected by the pipeline, sees the delay as an indication that FERC is giving weight to opponents' concerns."I think this won't be the last delay on the project," she said. "You have 70 percent of landowners in New Jersey refusing to allow surveys, and there are more than 25 percent of landowners in Carbon County who won't allow surveys."I think that shows the depth of opposition to this project," she said.Carbon County Commissioner William O'Gurek takes the delay as an indication that FERC is giving the project serious thought."Sometimes when projects hit the table for discussion and a decision, I think it's important to take a step back and look at the concerns of everyone involved before making that decision. Too often, it seems, projects get rubber-stamped, so I'm personally happy FERC appears to be taking a more thorough look at the pipeline project," he said."As commissioners, one of the major concerns we have is the project is not consistent with the goals and objectives of the Carbon County Comprehensive Plan and Greenway Plan, and local land use and land development ordinances," O'Gurek said."We believe FERC has a responsibility to investigate and exhaust every issue concerning the pipeline project. There are a lot of issues: impact on the environment, property owners' rights, the fairness of easements offered by PennEast, adverse impact on existing natural resources and historical landmarks and the potential destruction of property assessments, to name a few," he said."I would hope FERC delaying its decision allows it to conduct a full investigation into each of the issues on the table," O'Gurek said.In Carbon County, the 36-inch pipeline would run through Kidder, Penn Forest, Towamensing and Lower Towamensing townships.