[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8022 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8022
To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for the review of
applications for natural gas export and import orders, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2024
Mr. Higgins of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for the review of
applications for natural gas export and import orders, 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. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS EXPORT AND IMPORT
ORDERS.
(a) Deadline for Review of Applications.--Section 3(a) of the
Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``After six months'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) After six months'';
(2) by striking ``The Commission shall issue such order
upon application,'' and inserting ``Except as provided in
subsection (c), the Secretary of Energy shall grant or deny an
application for such an order by not later than 180 days after
receiving the application. The Secretary shall grant such an
application,''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Effect of delays.--
``(A) Report.--If the Secretary of Energy fails to
grant or deny an application for an order under this
subsection to export or import natural gas by the
deadline described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of
Energy shall, not later than 30 days after such
deadline, submit to Congress a report that details the
reason for the failure.
``(B) Application review by ferc.--Notwithstanding
section 402(f) of the Department of Energy Organization
Act (42 U.S.C. 7172(f)), if the Secretary of Energy
fails to grant or deny an application for an order
under this subsection to export or import natural gas
by the deadline described in paragraph (1), the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission shall grant the
application, unless, after opportunity for hearing, it
finds that the proposed exportation or importation will
not be consistent with the public interest.
``(3) Appeal of denial of an application.--If the Secretary
of Energy denies an application for an order under this
subsection to export or import natural gas, the applicant may
submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a request to
grant the application. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
shall grant the application or affirm the denial by not later
than 60 days after receiving the request. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission shall grant the application, unless,
after opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed
exportation or importation will not be consistent with the
public interest.
``(4) Annual reports.--The Secretary of Energy shall
annually submit to Congress a report that--
``(A) provides a detailed rational for each
decision to grant or deny an application for an order
under this subsection to export or import natural gas;
and
``(B) identifies--
``(i) the number of such applications
received by the Secretary of Energy during the
preceding year;
``(ii) the number of such applications
granted or denied by the Secretary of Energy by
the deadline described in paragraph (1); and
``(iii) measures implemented by the
Secretary of Energy to improve the efficient
review of such applications by the Secretary of
Energy.''.
(b) Expedited Application and Approval Process.--Section 3(c) of
the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Expedited Application and Approval Process.--
``(1) Free trade agreements.--For purposes of subsection
(a), the importation of the natural gas referred to in
subsection (b), or the exportation of natural gas to a nation
with which there is in effect a free trade agreement requiring
national treatment for trade in natural gas, shall be deemed to
be consistent with the public interest, and applications for
such importation or exportation shall be granted without
modification or delay.
``(2) Low-impact projects.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Energy shall
grant or deny an application for an order under
subsection (a) to export natural gas from, or import
natural gas to, a low-impact project by not later than
90 days after receiving such application.
``(B) Low-impact project defined.--In this
paragraph, the term `low-impact project' means an LNG
terminal for which an application has been submitted
under subsection (e) to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission for the expansion of the capacity of such
LNG terminal by not more than 5 billion cubic feet per
day.''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15
U.S.C. 717b) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``Commission'' and
inserting ``Secretary of Energy'' each place it appears; and
(2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``Commission'' and
inserting ``Secretary of Energy''.
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