Venture Global's 28 million-metric-ton-per-year Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG export terminal cleared a key regulatory hurdle on Tuesday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a consolidated challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the project and its companion CP Express pipeline in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

The court ruled FERC acted lawfully when it authorized the terminal and pipeline. Plaintiffs — environmental groups and local commercial fishermen led by For a Better Bayou, joined by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council — argued FERC didn't sufficiently account for the impact of the facility on the local environment and the commercial seafood industry. The court agreed with the commission's finding that the project would have a "moderate, but not significant impact on commercial fishing."

What did the court decide?

The three-judge panel held that FERC's environmental review met statutory requirements. The court acknowledged the facility sits in a year-round shrimping zone but noted the terminal footprint occupies only a small portion of those waters and "leaves most of those waters available to commercial fishers." That conclusion was enough to deny the petitions for review.

Roddy Hughes, Sierra Club campaign organizing strategist, framed the outcome in harsher terms. "FERC is required to evaluate the full scope of the potential harm from a project, and they failed to do that here," Hughes said. "Construction of the CP2 export facility has already been an unmitigated disaster for the health and livelihoods of the local community."

What's the project's scope?

CP2 LNG carries a nameplate capacity of 28 million metric tons of LNG per year. The project also includes the CP Express pipeline, a feed-gas line moving supply from the regional grid to the liquefaction trains at the Cameron Parish site.

Once complete, "CP2 LNG will be one of the largest liquefied natural gas export terminals in the U.S.," according to the developer. Venture Global expects first LNG shipments in the second half of 2027.

Construction at the site is already underway. Plaintiffs stressed the active build-out in their filings, citing an August 2025 spill of dredging material from the project footprint. The spill allegedly damaged and killed oysters farmed in cages near the construction zone in Calcasieu Lake.

The incident hit an oyster-culture program in only its second year of operation — an initiative that received startup funding from BP oil-spill settlement dollars administered through the state of Louisiana.

What comes next?

NRDC signaled it would press a parallel legal track. "This decision is a blow for the climate and the communities surrounding this project," Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at NRDC, said in a statement. Giannetti added that "the fight is not over." The group is challenging the Department of Energy's authorization of LNG exports from the terminal, arguing the license will not lower U.S. energy costs and could raise them.

Pending matters outside the D.C. Circuit ruling:

• DOE challenge to CP2's LNG export authorization, brought by NRDC
• Cameron Parish oyster farm's state-court suit over the August 2025 dredge spill
• Continued FERC oversight of construction-phase activity at Cameron Parish

Watch item: Venture Global's first cargo schedule. The developer has guided to H2 2027 for first LNG shipments from CP2, but the pending DOE export challenge and the state-court dredging suit introduce timing risk on a project that anchors the next leg of U.S. LNG export growth.