State officials on Friday said that a proposal for an underwater gas pipeline off the shore of New York City, which had previously been rejected three times because of environmental concerns, had been approved.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation deemed the pipeline safe to proceed with and granted the required permits, despite the complaints of opponents that include a group of high-ranking New York lawmakers and climate activists. The agency had previously prevented the project from moving forward because of fears it could adversely impact water quality.
Officials for the department, which is overseen by Gov. Kathy Hochul, are requiring some protective measures to minimize any harm to local waters and marine life, according to a statement from the agency on Friday.
The pipeline, which will cost about $1 billion to build, was proposed by Williams Companies, an energy company based in Tulsa, Okla. It would deliver gas from Pennsylvania to the New York City region, running for about 23 miles under Raritan Bay in New Jersey and New York Harbor.
The project underscores the company’s commitment to economic growth and to lowering energy costs for New Yorkers, a statement from Williams said. Construction of the pipeline should take about two years, a spokesman for Williams added.
The green light for the project, called the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, or NESE, comes amid soaring energy demands in the state and increasing pressure from the Trump Administration to promote the oil and gas industry. Critics of the project, however, say it runs counter to the state’s goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, enshrined in a landmark 2019 law.
“We need to govern in reality,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement, while alluding to concerns of possible energy shortages in the state as soon as next summer. “I am comfortable that in approving the permits, including a water quality certification, for the NESE application, the D.E.C. did just that.”
The governor added on Friday that Williams had withdrawn another proposal for a pipeline, the Constitution, because the application was incomplete. Williams will continue to pursue the issue with New York, a spokesman for the company said. Only New Yorkers will make use of the gas transported by the NESE pipeline, but New Jersey officials were also required to sign off on the proposal and granted the pipeline the go-ahead on Friday.
Environmental and climate activists were joined in their opposition to the pipeline by a coalition of Democratic lawmakers from the state, including 10 congressional representatives, led by Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader.
“This project, which would bury 17 miles of fracked gas pipeline under the ocean floor in ecologically sensitive waters near Staten Island and the Rockaway Peninsula, poses significant and far-reaching implications for public health, environmental justice communities, climate goals and marine ecosystems,” the politicians wrote in a letter to the governor in October. They also wrote that the pipeline interfered with New York’s climate law.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani of New York City was also among the lawmakers who have broken with the governor on the issue.
“My position on pipelines has always been consistent, which is opposition to new fossil fuel construction,” he said to reporters, shortly after appearing with Ms. Hochul at a reception in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Friday.
By 2050, New York must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent. The state, however, is falling behind, with crucial guidelines late in coming. In October, a supreme court judge in Ulster County ruled that the state was in violation of the climate law and must publish the guidelines by early next year.
The proposal for the pipeline resurfaced for a fourth time this spring after the governor helped persuade President Trump to back away from plans to shut down an offshore wind project in New York.
Some activists viewed the approval of the pipeline on Friday as the state’s attempt to appease President Trump. “It is truly a sad day when New York leaders cave to the Trump administration and agree to build pipelines that New Yorkers do not need and cannot afford,” said Roger Downs, the conservation director of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter.
Ken Lovett, the governor’s communications adviser for energy and the environment, responded that the governor had consistently denied any deal with the president and was open to all types of energy projects, including ones involving natural gas, as long as they go through an impartial review. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
National Grid, which provides gas to about two million customers in New York City and Long Island, will manage the flow of the gas.
The additional gas “will bolster critical energy reliability,” said Sally Librera, president of National Grid New York. The project also has support from, among others, the New York State Building Trades Council, which represents unionized construction workers, and the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit that promotes economic opportunities.
Critics of the pipeline proposal point out that it will be subsidized by National Grid customers. In its long-term plan released in July, the utility predicted that rates would rise by about 3.5 percent as a result of the construction.
But before the dredging begins, there will likely be litigation, said Michael B. Gerrard, an environmental law professor at Columbia. “The D.E.C. had said the pipeline would impair water quality,” he explained. “They have now reversed themselves. This begs for a lawsuit.”