[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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