[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 883 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 883
To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting,
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import
natural gas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 6, 2025
Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Ricketts, Mr.
Budd, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting,
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import
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 ``Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act
of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended--
(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c);
(2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as
subsections (c), (a), and (b), respectively, and reordering
accordingly;
(3) by striking the section designation and heading and all
that follows through the period at the end of paragraph (1) of
subsection (a) (as so redesignated) and inserting the
following:
``SEC. 3. LNG TERMINALS; AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT TO PROHIBIT IMPORTS
OR EXPORTS OF NATURAL GAS.
``(a) LNG Terminals.--
``(1) Authority of the commission.--
``(A) In general.--The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission shall have the exclusive authority to
approve or deny an application for the siting,
construction, expansion, or operation of a facility,
including an LNG terminal, to export natural gas from
the United States to a foreign country or import
natural gas from a foreign country.
``(B) Public interest.--In determining whether to
approve or deny an application described in
subparagraph (A), the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission shall deem the importation or exportation of
natural gas to be consistent with the public interest.
``(C) Effect.--Except as specifically provided in
this Act, nothing in this Act affects otherwise
applicable law relating to the authority or
responsibility of any Federal agency relating to
facilities, including LNG terminals, to import or
export natural gas.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Rule of Construction Relating to Authority To Prohibit
Imports or Exports.--
``(1) Definition of state sponsor of terrorism.--In this
subsection, the term `state sponsor of terrorism' means a
country the government of which the Secretary of State
determines has repeatedly provided support for international
terrorism pursuant to--
``(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control
Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A));
``(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
``(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2780); or
``(D) any other provision of law.
``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act limits the
authority of the President under the Constitution or any
provision of law described in paragraph (3) to prohibit imports
or exports.
``(3) Provisions of law described.--The provisions of law
referred to in paragraph (2) are--
``(A) the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
``(B) the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.);
``(C) part B of title II of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.);
``(D) the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C.
4301 et seq.); and
``(E) any other provision of law that--
``(i) imposes sanctions with respect to a
foreign person or foreign government, including
the government of a country that is designated
as a state sponsor of terrorism; or
``(ii) prohibits or restricts United States
persons from engaging in a transaction with a
person or government subject to sanctions
imposed by the United States.''.
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