[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8022 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8022

To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for the review of 
 applications for natural gas export and import orders, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 16, 2024

   Mr. Higgins of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for the review of 
 applications for natural gas export and import orders, 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. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS EXPORT AND IMPORT 
              ORDERS.

    (a) Deadline for Review of Applications.--Section 3(a) of the 
Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``After six months'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(1) After six months'';
            (2) by striking ``The Commission shall issue such order 
        upon application,'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
        subsection (c), the Secretary of Energy shall grant or deny an 
        application for such an order by not later than 180 days after 
        receiving the application. The Secretary shall grant such an 
        application,''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Effect of delays.--
                    ``(A) Report.--If the Secretary of Energy fails to 
                grant or deny an application for an order under this 
                subsection to export or import natural gas by the 
                deadline described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of 
                Energy shall, not later than 30 days after such 
                deadline, submit to Congress a report that details the 
                reason for the failure.
                    ``(B) Application review by ferc.--Notwithstanding 
                section 402(f) of the Department of Energy Organization 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 7172(f)), if the Secretary of Energy 
                fails to grant or deny an application for an order 
                under this subsection to export or import natural gas 
                by the deadline described in paragraph (1), the Federal 
                Energy Regulatory Commission shall grant the 
                application, unless, after opportunity for hearing, it 
                finds that the proposed exportation or importation will 
                not be consistent with the public interest.
            ``(3) Appeal of denial of an application.--If the Secretary 
        of Energy denies an application for an order under this 
        subsection to export or import natural gas, the applicant may 
        submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a request to 
        grant the application. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
        shall grant the application or affirm the denial by not later 
        than 60 days after receiving the request. The Federal Energy 
        Regulatory Commission shall grant the application, unless, 
        after opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed 
        exportation or importation will not be consistent with the 
        public interest.
            ``(4) Annual reports.--The Secretary of Energy shall 
        annually submit to Congress a report that--
                    ``(A) provides a detailed rational for each 
                decision to grant or deny an application for an order 
                under this subsection to export or import natural gas; 
                and
                    ``(B) identifies--
                            ``(i) the number of such applications 
                        received by the Secretary of Energy during the 
                        preceding year;
                            ``(ii) the number of such applications 
                        granted or denied by the Secretary of Energy by 
                        the deadline described in paragraph (1); and
                            ``(iii) measures implemented by the 
                        Secretary of Energy to improve the efficient 
                        review of such applications by the Secretary of 
                        Energy.''.
    (b) Expedited Application and Approval Process.--Section 3(c) of 
the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Expedited Application and Approval Process.--
            ``(1) Free trade agreements.--For purposes of subsection 
        (a), the importation of the natural gas referred to in 
        subsection (b), or the exportation of natural gas to a nation 
        with which there is in effect a free trade agreement requiring 
        national treatment for trade in natural gas, shall be deemed to 
        be consistent with the public interest, and applications for 
        such importation or exportation shall be granted without 
        modification or delay.
            ``(2) Low-impact projects.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Energy shall 
                grant or deny an application for an order under 
                subsection (a) to export natural gas from, or import 
                natural gas to, a low-impact project by not later than 
                90 days after receiving such application.
                    ``(B) Low-impact project defined.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `low-impact project' means an LNG 
                terminal for which an application has been submitted 
                under subsection (e) to the Federal Energy Regulatory 
                Commission for the expansion of the capacity of such 
                LNG terminal by not more than 5 billion cubic feet per 
                day.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 
U.S.C. 717b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``Commission'' and 
        inserting ``Secretary of Energy'' each place it appears; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``Commission'' and 
        inserting ``Secretary of Energy''.
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