[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8020 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8020

   To exempt certain vessels transporting liquefied natural gas from 
  certain coastwise endorsement requirements, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2026

   Mr. Perry (for himself, Mr. Roy, and Mr. Davidson) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To exempt certain vessels transporting liquefied natural gas from 
  certain coastwise endorsement requirements, 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 ``American LNG First Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM COASTWISE LAWS FOR VESSELS TRANSPORTING 
              LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS.

    (a) General Eligibility Requirements.--Section 12103 of title 46, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Exception for Vessels Transporting Liquefied Natural Gas.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 
        certificate of documentation may be issued under this chapter 
        for any vessel transporting methane, refrigerated liquid, 
        commonly known as liquefied natural gas.
            ``(2) Certain vessels excluded.--Paragraph (1) shall not 
        apply to--
                    ``(A) a vessel that is owned, in whole or in part, 
                by--
                            ``(i) a Russian national; or
                            ``(ii) the Government of the Russian 
                        Federation;
                    ``(B) a Russian-flagged vessel;
                    ``(C) a vessel for which any crewmember is a 
                Russian national;
                    ``(D) a vessel that is owned in whole or in part, 
                by--
                            ``(i) a Chinese national; or
                            ``(ii) the Government of the People's 
                        Republic of China;
                    ``(E) a Chinese-flagged vessel; or
                    ``(F) a vessel for which any crewmember is a 
                Chinese national.''.
    (b) Coastwise Endorsement.--Section 12112(a)(2)(B) of title 46, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (iii) by striking ``and'' at the end and 
        inserting ``or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(iv) transports methane, refrigerated liquid, 
                commonly known as liquefied natural gas; and''.
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