PER CURIAM:
The states of Oregon and Washington, Columbia Riverkeeper et al., and the Nez Perce Tribe (collectively, petitioners) seek review of a September 18, 2008 order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). For the reasons stated below, we dismiss the petition for review as moot and vacate the agency's September 18, 2008 order.
FERC's September 18, 2008 order incorporated two different authorizations, each with conditions. First, pursuant to Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. § 717b(a), FERC authorized Bradwood Landing LLC (Bradwood) to site, construct, and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Clatsop County, Oregon. Second, pursuant to Section 7 of the NGA, id. § 717f(c)(1)(A), FERC issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) authorizing NorthernStar Energy LLC (NorthernStar) to construct and operate a natural gas pipeline that would connect the new Bradwood LNG terminal to the Pacific Northwest's existing natural gas pipeline network.
The parties have informed us that the following events occurred after the petition for review was filed. First, on May 4, 2010, Bradwood and NorthernStar filed petitions in bankruptcy for Chapter 7 liquidation. See In re NorthernStar Natural Gas, Inc., No. 10-33856 (Bankr. S.D.Tex.); In re Bradwood Landing LLC, No. 10-33867 (Bankr.S.D.Tex.). Second, in a letter dated August 18, 2010, Washington denied without prejudice the proponents' request for certification under the Clean Water Act, (CWA) 33 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1),
A case is moot when it has "lost its character as a present, live controversy of the kind that must exist if we are to avoid advisory opinions on abstract propositions of law." Hall v. Beals, 396 U.S. 45, 48, 90 S.Ct. 200, 24 L.Ed.2d 214 (1969) (per curiam). We "are without power to decide questions that cannot affect the rights of litigants in the case before [us].'" DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 316, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 40 L.Ed.2d 164 (1974) (per curiam) (quoting North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S.Ct. 402, 30 L.Ed.2d 413 (1971)). This is such a case.
While FERC may authorize a permittee to transfer a Section 3 permit to a new project proponent, 18 C.F.R. § 153.9(a), the CPCN "is not transferable in any manner," id. § 157.20(e). Once NorthernStar is liquidated in the bankruptcy proceeding, it will no longer exist, and thus will not be able to renew its efforts to obtain Washington's certification under the CWA or Oregon's concurrence in the proponents' federal consistency determination under the CZMA, or proceed with the pipeline project in any other manner. Nor can it transfer the CPCN to a third party. While Bradwood's Section 3 permit is theoretically transferable, the petitioners concede that the terminal and the pipeline essentially constitute a single project that will go forward together, or not at all, even though the terminal and the pipeline are formally subject to two different permits. Given that the project proponents have filed Chapter 7 petitions, and failed to demonstrate compliance with Washington state water quality standards or consistency with Oregon's land use policies and project authorization requirements, the future of the project as currently permitted is in grave doubt.
Under these circumstances, the possibility that the project authorized by FERC's September 18, 2008 order could be revived to threaten the interests of the petitioners is "too remote and too speculative a consideration to save this case from mootness." Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Lohn, 511 F.3d 960, 964 (9th Cir.2007) (citing Headwaters, Inc. v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 893 F.2d 1012, 1015 (9th Cir.1989)). Consequently, we hold that the petitioners' challenge to the FERC order is moot.
In cases where intervening events moot a petition for review of an agency order, the proper course is to vacate the underlying order. A.L. Mechling Barge Lines, Inc. v. United States, 368 U.S. 324, 330-31, 82 S.Ct. 337, 7 L.Ed.2d 317 (1961); see 15 U.S.C. § 717r(b). Accordingly, we dismiss the petition as moot and vacate FERC's September 18, 2008 order.
33 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1).