DT Midstream (DTM) Risk Analysis

New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. It cannot be predicted whether or when tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances may be enacted, issued, or amended. Changes to existing tax laws or the enactment of future reform legislation could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.

Our natural gas transmission, storage and gathering activities are subject to stringent and complex U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations relating to air quality, water quality, waste management, wildlife conservation, natural resources and worker health and safety. As with the industry generally, compliance with current and anticipated environmental laws and regulations increases our overall cost of conducting business, including our capital costs to construct, maintain and upgrade pipelines and other facilities, or may even cause us not to pursue a project. For instance, we may be required to obtain and maintain permits and other approvals issued by various U.S. federal, state and local governmental authorities; monitor for, limit or prevent releases of materials from our operations in accordance with these permits and approvals; install pollution control equipment or replace aging pipelines and other facilities; limit or prohibit construction activities in sensitive areas such as wetlands, wilderness or areas that provide habitat for endangered or threatened species; incur potentially substantial new obligations or liabilities for any pollution or contamination that may result from our operations; and apply health and safety criteria addressing worker protections. Failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations, or the permits issued under them, may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of investigatory, remedial or corrective action obligations or the incurrence of capital expenditures, the occurrence of delays in the permitting or performance or expansion of projects, the issuance of injunctions limiting or preventing some or all of our operations in a particular area, and private party claims for personal injuries or property damage. Moreover, environmental laws, regulations and enforcement policies tend to become more stringent over time. New, modified or stricter environmental laws, regulations or enforcement policies, including climate change laws and regulations restricting emissions of GHGs, could be implemented that significantly increase our compliance costs, pollution mitigation costs, or the cost of any necessary remediation of environmental contamination. For example, in April 2020 the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana issued a broad order vacating NWP 12, a general permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers relied upon by industry for expedited permitting of oil and gas pipelines, for alleged failure to comply with consultation requirements under the ESA. While the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately stayed the vacatur of NWP 12, the District Court's action temporarily caused uncertainty and disruption in the industry. A challenge to the 2021 reissuance of NWP 12 (re-issued on a five-year schedule) is pending in the federal district court in Washington, D.C. after the case was transferred from federal court in Montana. The NWP 12 reissuance was among the agency actions listed for review in accordance with the January 20, 2021 Executive Order ("Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis"); and, in 2022 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought public comment on the potential to revise NWP 12 in response to objections to the use of NWP 12 related, primarily, to environmental justice, public participation, and climate change. The prior presidential administration did not take final action to modify the current version of NWP 12 before its expiration and reissuance in March 2026. While a new version might be proposed in early 2025, the position of the new presidential administration is not yet clear. Any disruption in our ability to obtain coverage under NWP 12 or other general permits may result in increased costs and project delays if we are forced to seek individual permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our compliance with changing legal requirements could result in our incurring significant additional expenses and operating restrictions with respect to our operations, which may not be fully recoverable from customers and, thus, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our customers may similarly incur increased costs or restrictions that may limit or decrease those customers' operations and have an indirect material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, an Executive Order was issued on January 27, 2021 ("Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad") that included provisions directing the Secretary of the Interior to pause approval of new oil and natural gas leases on public lands pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of U.S. federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices and directing the heads of U.S. federal agencies to take steps to ensure that, to the extent consistent with applicable law, federal funding is not directly subsidizing fossil fuels. During the course of the prior presidential administration, litigation over the "pause" ensued. While lease sales ultimately continued, they have been scaled back and are subject to challenge by environmental groups. Over the past four years, the Department of the Interior has issued various regulations, with portions implementing the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act pertaining to oil and gas leasing. These regulations include the so-called Waste Prevention Rule, which would strictly limit releases of methane from oil and gas drilling on public lands. This could lead to increased costs for producers and increased need for pipeline capacity as operators would be required to have a plan to reduce venting and flaring as a predicate to approval of production of federal minerals. The new presidential administration may return to a robust oil and gas leasing program and re-visit the Waste Prevention Rule as well as a number of other rules that may impact our customers. While the prior presidential administration had placed a temporary pause on the authorization of new LNG terminals, impacting LNG projects in various stages of planning and review, the new presidential administration has lifted this pause and the Department of Energy has been directed to review LNG export applications as expeditiously as possible. Moreover, a number of state and regional legal initiatives, including climate change laws, have emerged in recent years that seek to reduce GHGs emissions and the EPA, based on its findings that emissions of GHGs present a danger to public health and the environment, has adopted regulations under existing provisions of the U.S. federal Clean Air Act that, among other things, restrict emissions of GHGs and require the monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions from specified onshore and offshore production sources and onshore treating sources in the U.S. on an annual basis. In addition, some communities and cities have banned new natural gas hook-ups or are expected to enact similar electrification measures in response to climate change concerns. Any new U.S. federal laws restricting emissions of GHGs, such as a carbon tax, from customer operations, or that limit the growth of pipelines and LNG exports from the U.S., could delay or curtail their activities and, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. There is inherent risk of the incurrence of environmental costs and liabilities in our business due to our handling of natural gas and hazardous substances, and historical industry operations and waste management and disposal practices. For example, an accidental release from one of our facilities could subject us to substantial liabilities arising from environmental cleanup and restoration costs, claims made by neighboring landowners and other third parties for personal injury and property damage, or governmental claims for natural resource damages or imposing fines or penalties for related violations of environmental laws, permits or regulations. In addition, strict, joint and several liabilities may be imposed under certain environmental laws that govern the investigation and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination, which could cause us to become liable for the contamination caused by others, such as prior operators of our facilities, or for the consequences of our own actions that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time those actions were taken, such as the historic disposal by us of hazardous substances or wastes at third party sites where contamination is subsequently discovered. Private parties, including the owners of the properties through which our assets pass and facilities where our wastes are taken for reclamation or disposal, may also have the right to pursue legal actions against us to enforce compliance, as well as to seek damages for non-compliance, with environmental laws and regulations or for personal injury or property damage that may result from environmental and other impacts of our operations. We may not be able to recover some or any of these costs through insurance or increased revenues, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For more information, see the section entitled "Items 1. and 2. Business and Properties-Regulatory Environment-Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations".