[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4348 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4348

     To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy 
  Regulatory Commission from issuing permits for the construction or 
 modification of electric transmission facilities in a State over the 
            objection of the State, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 15, 2024

  Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy 
  Regulatory Commission from issuing permits for the construction or 
 modification of electric transmission facilities in a State over the 
            objection of the State, 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 ``Protecting Our Farmers from the 
Green New Deal Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to protect farmers and landowners from 
national efforts to site electric transmission facilities over the 
objection of State regulators.

SEC. 3. SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 216(b) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 
824p(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) a State in which the transmission facilities 
                are to be constructed or modified does not have 
                authority to approve the siting of the facilities;'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (6) as 
        subparagraphs (B) through (F), respectively, and indenting 
        appropriately;
            (3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so 
        designated), by striking ``Except'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(1) In general.--Except'';
            (4) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) the proposed construction or modification 
                minimizes any adverse effects on landowners and 
                agriculture, adequately compensates landowners and 
                agricultural producers for any harms, and provides 
                benefits to consumers in the State that exceed the 
                harms to landowners and agricultural producers.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Prohibition.--Under no circumstances may the 
        Commission review an application or issue a permit for the 
        construction or modification of transmission facilities if a 
        State entity with authority to approve the siting of the 
        facilities--
                    ``(A) has previously denied an identical or 
                substantially similar application; or
                    ``(B) is currently reviewing an identical or 
                substantially similar application.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 216(i)(4) of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(i)(4)) is amended by striking ``, unless'' in the 
matter preceding subparagraph (A) and all that follows through the 
period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting a period.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Energy Regulatory Commission.
            (2) Committees of jurisdiction.--The term ``committees of 
        jurisdiction'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives.
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall 
submit to the committees of jurisdiction and make publicly available a 
report describing all actions taken by the Commission pursuant to 
section 216(b) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) during the 
period covered by the report.
    (c) Contents.--The report required under subsection (b) shall 
include a description of--
            (1) any adverse effects on private landowners, farmers, and 
        agricultural producers;
            (2) how those effects were taken into account; and
            (3) the steps taken by the Commission--
                    (A) to minimize those effects;
                    (B) to compensate any affected individuals; and
                    (C) to ensure that affected individuals benefit 
                from the applicable project.
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