[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3495 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3495

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

                           September 25, 2018

 Mr. Barrasso 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 TO EXPORT LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS.

    (a) Decision Deadline.--For proposals that must also obtain 
authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the 
Maritime Administration to site, construct, expand, or operate 
liquefied natural gas export facilities, the Secretary of Energy 
(referred to in this Act 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 Review.--
            (1) In general.--Except for review in the Supreme Court, 
        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.--If the Court in a civil action described in 
        paragraph (1) finds that the Secretary has failed to issue a 
        final decision on the application as required under subsection 
        (a), the Court shall order the Secretary to issue the final 
        decision not later than 30 days after the order of the Court.
            (3) Expedited consideration.--The Court shall--
                    (A) set any civil action brought under this 
                subsection for expedited consideration; and
                    (B) set the matter on the docket as soon as 
                practicable after the filing date of the initial 
                pleading.
            (4) Transfers.--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 section shall apply.
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