[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1064 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1064
To require the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the national
security implications of building ethane and other natural-gas-liquids-
related petrochemical infrastructure in the United States, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 8, 2019
Mr. Manchin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
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A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the national
security implications of building ethane and other natural-gas-liquids-
related petrochemical infrastructure in the United States, 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 ``Appalachian Energy for National
Security Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Energy Information Administration projects that--
(A) domestic natural gas production from shale
resources will more than double between 2017 and 2050;
and
(B) continued development of the Marcellus and
Utica shale plays in the eastern United States is the
main driver of growth in total domestic natural gas
production across most scenarios;
(2) the Department of Energy has found that--
(A) the shale resource endowment of the Appalachian
Basin is so bountiful that, if the Appalachian Basin
were an independent country, the Appalachian Basin
would be the third largest producer of natural gas in
the world;
(B) with more than $300,000,000,000 of net revenue,
900,000 workers, and 7,500 establishments, Appalachia
and surrounding areas account for nearly a third of
United States activities in 13 petrochemical
industries; and
(C) the aggregate revenue growth from commodity
chemicals that can be derived from ethane (commonly
known as the ``value chain'') is projected to be
$716,000,000,000 between 2018 and 2040;
(3) geographical diversity and structural resilience is
critical, given that the Department of Energy has found that--
(A) 95 percent of ethylene production capacity in
the United States currently exists in the States of
Louisiana and Texas;
(B) this concentration of assets and operations may
pose a strategic risk to the economy of the United
States as extreme weather events impacting the
production of petrochemicals (including plastic resin)
on the Gulf Coast can limit the availability of
feedstocks to manufacturers across the United States;
and
(C) in August 2017, many Gulf Coast refineries and
petrochemical facilities shut down, which affected 54
percent of United States ethylene production and 36
percent of United States ethylene consumption capacity;
(4) there are economic efficiencies and economic security
benefits to maintaining all elements of the value chain for
ethane and other natural gas liquids in clusters in various
geographical regions, provided each cluster includes natural
gas production, natural gas processing plants, natural gas
liquids fractionation plants, natural gas liquids
transportation infrastructure, natural gas liquids storage, and
ethane and other natural gas liquids petrochemical
infrastructure;
(5) there are economic efficiencies to building ethane and
other natural-gas-liquids-related petrochemical infrastructure,
including storage and distribution systems, within the
Appalachian region, because of the close proximity of the
region to the industrial Midwest and manufacturers in the
Eastern United States that use petrochemicals, such as plastic
resins, as manufacturing inputs; and
(6) it is a priority of the United States to minimize
effects of volatility in any individual market by maintaining--
(A) a robust domestic natural gas liquids resource
base;
(B) the requisite physical assets along the value
chain for ethane and other natural gas liquids; and
(C) diversity in customers, both domestically and
internationally.
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORTS ON BUILDING ETHANE AND OTHER NATURAL-GAS-
LIQUIDS-RELATED PETROCHEMICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in
this section as the ``Secretary''), in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the
heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies and
stakeholders, shall conduct a study assessing the potential
national economic security impacts of building ethane and other
natural-gas-liquids-related petrochemical infrastructure in the
geographical vicinity of the Marcellus, Utica, and Rogersville
shale plays in the United States.
(2) Contents.--The study conducted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) the identification of potential benefits of the
proposed infrastructure to national and economic
security, including the identification of potential
risks to national and economic security of significant
foreign ownership and control of United States domestic
petrochemical resources; and
(B) an examination of, with respect to the proposed
infrastructure--
(i) types of additional infrastructure
needed to fully optimize the potential national
security benefits;
(ii) whether geopolitical diversity in
areas to which the ethane and other natural gas
liquids will be exported from the producing
region would undermine or bolster national
security;
(iii) the necessity of evaluating the
public interest with respect to exports of
ethane, propane, butane, and other natural gas
liquids, to ensure the potential strategic
national and economic security benefits are
preserved within the United States; and
(iv) the potential benefits, with respect
to significant weather impacts, compared to
other regions, of locating the proposed
infrastructure in the geographical vicinity of
the Marcellus, Utica, and Rogersville shale
plays.
(b) Reports.--
(1) Status reports.--Prior to completion of the study under
subsection (a), the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources
and Armed Services of the Senate and the Committees on Energy
and Commerce and Armed Services of the House of
Representatives, from time to time, may request and receive
from the Secretary status reports with respect to the study,
including any findings.
(2) Submission and publication of report.--On completion of
the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(A) submit to the Committees on Energy and Natural
Resources and Armed Services of the Senate and the
Committees on Energy and Commerce and Armed Services of
the House of Representatives a report describing the
results of the study; and
(B) publish the report on the website of the
Department of Energy.
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