[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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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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