[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3704 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3704

  To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory 
      Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting, 
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import 
                  natural gas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2024

 Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Crapo, Mr. 
 Risch, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Scott of 
Florida, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Budd, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tillis, Mr. 
   Rounds, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Lankford) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory 
      Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting, 
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import 
                  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 ``Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act 
of 2024''.

SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.

    Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c);
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as 
        subsections (c), (a), and (b), respectively, and reordering 
        accordingly; and
            (3) by striking the section designation and heading and all 
        that follows through the period at the end of paragraph (1) of 
        subsection (a) (as so redesignated) and inserting the 
        following:

``SEC. 3. LNG TERMINALS; AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT TO PROHIBIT IMPORTS 
              OR EXPORTS OF NATURAL GAS.

    ``(a) LNG Terminals.--
            ``(1) Authority of the commission.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Federal Energy Regulatory 
                Commission shall have the exclusive authority to 
                approve or deny an application for the siting, 
                construction, expansion, or operation of a facility, 
                including an LNG terminal, to export natural gas from 
                the United States to a foreign country or import 
                natural gas from a foreign country.
                    ``(B) Public interest.--In determining whether to 
                approve or deny an application described in 
                subparagraph (A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
                Commission shall deem the importation or exportation of 
                natural gas to be consistent with the public interest.
                    ``(C) Effect.--Except as specifically provided in 
                this Act, nothing in this Act affects otherwise 
                applicable law relating to the authority or 
                responsibility of any Federal agency relating to 
                facilities, including LNG terminals, to import or 
                export natural gas.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Rule of Construction Relating to Authority To Prohibit 
Imports or Exports.--
            ``(1) Definition of state sponsor of terrorism.--In this 
        subsection, the term `state sponsor of terrorism' means a 
        country the government of which the Secretary of State 
        determines has repeatedly provided support for international 
        terrorism pursuant to--
                    ``(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control 
                Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A));
                    ``(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
                    ``(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
                U.S.C. 2780); or
                    ``(D) any other provision of law.
            ``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act limits the 
        authority of the President under the Constitution or any 
        provision of law described in paragraph (3) to prohibit imports 
        or exports.
            ``(3) Provisions of law described.--The provisions of law 
        referred to in paragraph (2) are--
                    ``(A) the International Emergency Economic Powers 
                Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
                    ``(B) the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 
                et seq.);
                    ``(C) part B of title II of the Energy Policy and 
                Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.);
                    ``(D) the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 
                4301 et seq.); and
                    ``(E) any other provision of law that--
                            ``(i) imposes sanctions with respect to a 
                        foreign person or foreign government, including 
                        the government of a country that is designated 
                        as a state sponsor of terrorism; or
                            ``(ii) prohibits or restricts United States 
                        persons from engaging in a transaction with a 
                        person or government subject to sanctions 
                        imposed by the United States.''.
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