[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 33 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 33
To provide certainty with respect to the timing of Department of Energy
decisions to approve or deny applications to export natural gas, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 6, 2015
Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Gardner, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr.
Hoeven, Mr. Kaine, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Bennet) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide certainty with respect to the timing of Department of Energy
decisions to approve or deny applications to export natural gas, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``LNG Permitting Certainty and
Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS.
(a) Decision Deadline.--For proposals that must also obtain
authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the
United States Maritime Administration to site, construct, expand, or
operate liquefied natural gas export facilities, the Secretary of
Energy (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall issue a
final decision on any application for the authorization to export
natural gas under section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C.
717b(a)) not later than 45 days after the later of--
(1) the conclusion of the review to site, construct,
expand, or operate the liquefied natural gas export facilities
required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or
(2) the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Conclusion of Review.--For purposes of subsection (a), review
required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) shall be considered concluded when the lead agency--
(1) for a project requiring an Environmental Impact
Statement, publishes a Final Environmental Impact Statement;
(2) for a project for which an Environmental Assessment has
been prepared, publishes a Finding of No Significant Impact; or
(3) determines that an application is eligible for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) implementing regulations.
(c) Judicial Action.--
(1) Jurisdiction.--The United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit or the circuit in which the
liquefied natural gas export facility will be located pursuant
to an application described in subsection (a) shall have
original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil action for
the review of--
(A) an order issued by the Secretary with respect
to such application; or
(B) the failure of the Secretary to issue a final
decision on such application.
(2) Order to issue decision.--If the Court in a civil
action described in paragraph (1) finds that the Secretary has
failed to issue a decision on the application as required under
subsection (a), the Court shall order the Secretary to issue
the decision not later than 30 days after the Court's order.
(3) Expedited consideration.--The Court shall set any civil
action brought under this subsection for expedited
consideration and shall set the matter on the docket as soon as
practical after the filing date of the initial pleading.
(4) Appeals.--In the case of an application described in
subsection (a) for which a petition for review has been filed--
(A) upon motion by an applicant, the matter shall
be transferred to the United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit or the circuit in
which a liquefied natural gas export facility will be
located pursuant to an application described in section
3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(a)); and
(B) the provisions of this Act shall apply.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF EXPORT DESTINATIONS.
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(g) Public Disclosure of LNG Export Destinations.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of any authorization to
export liquefied natural gas, the Secretary of Energy shall
require the applicant to report to the Secretary of Energy the
names of the 1 or more countries of destination to which the
exported liquefied natural gas is delivered.
``(2) Timing.--The applicant shall file the report required
under paragraph (1) not later than--
``(A) in the case of the first export, the last day
of the month following the month of the first export;
and
``(B) in the case of subsequent exports, the date
that is 30 days after the last day of the applicable
month concerning the activity of the previous month.
``(3) Disclosure.--The Secretary of Energy shall publish
the information reported under this subsection on the website
of the Department of Energy and otherwise make the information
available to the public.''.
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