The company seeking to build a natural gas pipeline through parts of Carbon and Monroe counties is asking the federal oversight agency for a two-year extension on the project.

When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the PennEast Pipeline Company its certificate of public convenience and necessity in 2018, PennEast was required to have the pipeline completed and in service by Jan. 19, 2020.

In a letter asking FERC to extend that date to Jan. 19, 2022, PennEast Project Manager Jeffrey England said any “postponement of the in-service date for the project will have no impact on the public interest findings underlying the certificate order.”

“PennEast remains committed to constructing this important energy infrastructure project and placing the project into service as soon as possible,” England added. “PennEast has worked in good faith and has used its best efforts to obtain all of the approvals required for construction of the project.”

England cited “unforeseeable circumstances, such as difficulty in obtaining permits,” as a reason for the extension request.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dealt a major blow to the pipeline in 2019 when it rejected a request for a rehearing on the use of eminent domain to acquire properties in New Jersey.

In September, the court ruled that PennEast can’t use eminent domain to acquire 42 properties that are owned by the state and preserved for farmland or open space.

The judges wrote that while the federal Natural Gas Act allows private gas companies to exercise the federal government’s power to take property by eminent domain, that doesn’t extend to state-owned properties.

The properties fall under the 11th Amendment, which protects states from lawsuits by private parties in federal court, the panel concluded.

PennEast has since asked the Supreme Court of the United States to review the decision.

“PennEast continues to diligently pursue all available legal remedies in an effort to obtain the individual permit,” England wrote in the letter to FERC. “Specifically, PennEast filed a petition for declaratory order related to the Third Circuit Opinion, will file a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court for review of the Third Circuit Opinion, and is considering available remedies to address the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s unfounded claim that the Third Circuit Opinion has any bearing on the completeness of PennEast’s application.”

As for the Pennsylvania portion of the project, England said PennEast is diligently pursuing the outstanding permits and clearance under the National Historic Preservation Act, which are outstanding, primarily, as a result of modifications of the proposed route to respond to landowner concerns or requests, or to address constructibility concerns.

Locally, the group Save Carbon County has been lobbying against the pipeline project. After the appeals court decision in New Jersey, Save Carbon County’s Linda Christman said, “impacted landowners and environmentalists that have been fighting this pipeline for five years are ready for this to end.”

In its most recent report to its stakeholders, the group said, “the 2022 date is consistent with the timeline we published last month which was a best case estimate for the pipeline. If they manage to complete the pipeline by 2022, it will be five years behind schedule.”