[House Document 119-15]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 119-15
DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN ORDER TO ADDRESS OUR NATION'S
INADEQUATE ENERGY SUPPLY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN ORDER TO ADDRESS OUR NATION'S
INADEQUATE ENERGY SUPPLY AND INFRASTRUCTURE, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C.
1621(a); PUBLIC LAW 94-412, SEC. 201(a); (90 STAT. 1255)
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
January 31, 2025.--Referred jointly to the Committees on Financial
Services, Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, Armed Services, and
Transportation and Infrastructure and ordered to be printed
_______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-011 WASHINGTON : 2025
The White House,
Washington, January 29, 2025.
Hon. Mike Johnson,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: Pursuant to section 201 of the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621), and section 301 of title 3,
United States Code, I hereby report that I have exercised my
authority to declare a national emergency in order to address
our Nation's inadequate energy supply and infrastructure. High
energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the
cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and
manufacturing, while weakening our national security. This
active threat to the American people from high energy prices is
exacerbated by our Nation's diminished capacity to insulate
itself from hostile foreign actors. In an effort to harm the
American people, hostile state and non-state foreign actors
have targeted our domestic energy infrastructure, weaponized
our reliance on foreign energy, and abused their ability to
cause dramatic swings within international commodity markets.
An affordable, reliable, and secure domestic supply of energy
is a fundamental requirement for the national and economic
security of any nation.
I have ordered an immediate review of all agency actions
that burden the development of domestic energy resources, with
particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower,
biofuels, critical minerals, and nuclear energy resources to
promote and reestablish economic prosperity and energy security
to resolve this emergency. This declaration invokes and
unleashes multiple authorities, including but not limited to:
the Defense Production Act (Public Law 81-774, 50 U.S.C. 4501
et seq.), and 42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)(ii)(III), under which the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after
consultation with, and concurrence by, the Secretary of Energy,
will consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-
round sale of E15 gasoline to meet any projected temporary
shortfalls in the supply of gasoline across the Nation.
Further, I have invoked authorities to facilitate expedited
permitting under the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species
Act. In addition, I have invoked the construction authority
provided in section 2808 of title 10 of the United States Code,
directing the Secretary of the Army to promote and maximize
construction authority to pursue energy security and achieve
resolution of the current energy emergency.
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Trump.
Executive Order
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Declaring a National Energy Emergency
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)
(``NEA''), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it
is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The energy and critical minerals
(``energy'') identification, leasing, development, production,
transportation, refining, and generation capacity of the United
States are all far too inadequate to meet our Nation's needs.
We need a reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of
energy to drive our Nation's manufacturing, transportation,
agriculture, and defense industries, and to sustain the basics
of modern life and military preparedness. Caused by the harmful
and shortsighted policies of the previous administration, our
Nation's inadequate energy supply and infrastructure causes and
makes worse the high energy prices that devastate Americans,
particularly those living on low- and fixed-incomes.
This active threat to the American people from high energy
prices is exacerbated by our Nation's diminished capacity to
insulate itself from hostile foreign actors. Energy security is
an increasingly crucial theater of global competition. In an
effort to harm the American people, hostile state and non-state
foreign actors have targeted our domestic energy
infrastructure, weaponized our reliance on foreign energy, and
abused their ability to cause dramatic swings within
international commodity markets. An affordable and reliable
domestic supply of energy is a fundamental requirement for the
national and economic security of any nation.
The integrity and expansion of our Nation's energy
infrastructure--from coast to coast--is an immediate and
pressing priority for the protection of the United States'
national and economic security. It is imperative that the
Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of
the American people first.
Moreover, the United States has the potential to use its
unrealized energy resources domestically, and to sell to
international allies and partners a reliable, diversified, and
affordable supply of energy. This would create jobs and
economic prosperity for Americans forgotten in the present
economy, improve the United States' trade balance, help our
country compete with hostile foreign powers, strengthen
relations with allies and partners, and support international
peace and security. Accordingly, our Nation's dangerous energy
situation inflicts unnecessary and perilous constraints on our
foreign policy.
The policies of the previous administration have driven our
Nation into a national emergency, where a precariously
inadequate and intermittent energy supply, and an increasingly
unreliable grid, require swift and decisive action. Without
immediate remedy, this situation will dramatically deteriorate
in the near future due to a high demand for energy and natural
resources to power the next generation of technology. The
United States' ability to remain at the forefront of
technological innovation depends on a reliable supply of energy
and the integrity of our Nation's electrical grid. Our Nation's
current inadequate development of domestic energy resources
leaves us vulnerable to hostile foreign actors and poses an
imminent and growing threat to the United States' prosperity
and national security.
These numerous problems are most pronounced in our Nation's
Northeast and West Coast, where dangerous State and local
policies jeopardize our Nation's core national defense and
security needs, and devastate the prosperity of not only local
residents but the entire United States population. The United
States' insufficient energy production, transportation,
refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and
extraordinary threat to our Nation's economy, national
security, and foreign policy. In light of these findings, I
hereby declare a national emergency.
Sec. 2. Emergency Approvals. (a) The heads of executive
departments and agencies (``agencies'') shall identify and
exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as
well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to
facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production,
transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy
resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands. If
an agency assesses that use of either Federal eminent domain
authorities or authorities afforded under the Defense
Production Act (Public Law 81-774, 50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) are
necessary to achieve this objective, the agency shall submit
recommendations for a course of action to the President,
through the Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs.
(b) Consistent with 42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)(ii)(III), the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after
consultation with, and concurrence by, the Secretary of Energy,
shall consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the
year-round sale of E15 gasoline to meet any projected temporary
shortfalls in the supply of gasoline across the Nation.
Sec. 3. Expediting the Delivery of Energy Infrastructure.
(a) To facilitate the Nation's energy supply, agencies shall
identify and use all relevant lawful emergency and other
authorities available to them to expedite the completion of all
authorized and appropriated infrastructure, energy,
environmental, and natural resources projects that are within
the identified authority of each of the Secretaries to perform
or to advance.
(b) To protect the collective national and economic
security of the United States, agencies shall identify and use
all lawful emergency or other authorities available to them to
facilitate the supply, refining, and transportation of energy
in and through the West Coast of the United States, Northeast
of the United States, and Alaska.
(c) The Secretaries shall provide such reports regarding
activities under this section as may be requested by the
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.
Sec. 4. Emergency Regulations and Nationwide Permits Under
the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Other Statutes Administered by
the Army Corps of Engineers. (a) Within 30 days from the date
of this order, the heads of all agencies, as well as the
Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant Secretary
of the Army for Civil Works shall:
(i) identify planned or potential actions to
facilitate the Nation's energy supply that may be
subject to emergency treatment pursuant to the
regulations and nationwide permits promulgated by the
Corps, or jointly by the Corps and EPA, pursuant to
section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1344,
section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of March 3,
1899, 33 U.S.C. 403, and section 103 of the Marine
Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, 33
U.S.C. 1413 (collectively, the ``emergency Army Corps
permitting provisions''); and
(ii) shall provide a summary report, listing such
actions, to the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget (``OMB''); the Secretary of the Army, acting
through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil
Works; the Assistant to the President for Economic
Policy; and the Chairman of the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ). Such report may be
combined, as appropriate, with any other reports
required by this order.
(b) Agencies are directed to use, to the fullest extent
possible and consistent with applicable law, the emergency Army
Corps permitting provisions to facilitate the Nation's energy
supply.
(c) Within 30 days following the submission of the initial
summary report described in subsection (a)(ii) of this section,
each department and agency shall provide a status report to the
OMB Director; the Secretary of the Army, acting through the
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; the Director
of the National Economic Council; and the Chairman of the CEQ.
Each such report shall list actions taken within subsection
(a)(i) of this section, shall list the status of any previously
reported planned or potential actions, and shall list any new
planned or potential actions that fall within subsection
(a)(i). Such status reports shall thereafter be provided to
these officials at least every 30 days for the duration of the
national emergency and may be combined, as appropriate, with
any other reports required by this order.
(d) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant
Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, shall be available to
consult promptly with agencies and to take other prompt and
appropriate action concerning the application of the emergency
Army Corps permitting provisions. The Administrator of the EPA
shall provide prompt cooperation to the Secretary of the Army
and to agencies in connection with the discharge of the
responsibilities described in this section.
Sec. 5. Endangered Species Act (ESA) Emergency Consultation
Regulations. (a) No later than 30 days from the date of this
order, the heads of all agencies tasked in this order shall:
(i) identify planned or potential actions to
facilitate the Nation's energy supply that may be
subject to the regulation on consultations in
emergencies, 50 C.F.R. 402.05, promulgated by the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (``ESA''), 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; and
(ii) provide a summary report, listing such actions,
to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Commerce, the OMB Director, the Director of the
National Economic Council, and the Chairman of CEQ.
Such report may be combined, as appropriate, with any
other reports required by this order.
(b) Agencies are directed to use, to the maximum extent
permissible under applicable law, the ESA regulation on
consultations in emergencies, to facilitate the Nation's energy
supply.
(c) Within 30 days following the submission of the initial
summary report described in subsection (a)(ii) of this section,
the head of each agency shall provide a status report to the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, the OMB
Director, the Director of the National Economic Council, and
the Chairman of CEQ. Each such report shall list actions taken
within the categories described in subsection (a)(i) of this
section, the status of any previously reported planned or
potential actions, and any new planned or potential actions
within these categories. Such status reports shall thereafter
be provided to these officials at least every 30 days for the
duration of the national emergency and may be combined, as
appropriate, with any other reports required by this order. The
OMB Director may grant discretionary exemptions from this
reporting requirement.
(d) The Secretary of the interior shall ensure that the
Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Director's
authorized representative, is available to consult promptly
with agencies and to take other prompt and appropriate action
concerning the application of the ESA's emergency regulations.
The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries for the National Marine Fisheries
Service, or the Assistant Administrator's authorized
representative, is available for such consultation and to take
such other action.
Sec. 6. Convening the Endangered Species Act Committee. (a)
In acting as Chairman of the Endangered Species Act Committee,
the Secretary of the Interior shall convene the Endangered
Species Act Committee not lesg than quarterly, unless otherwise
required by law, to review and consider any lawful applications
submitted by an agency, the Governor of a State, or any
applicant for a permit or license who submits for exemption
from obligations imposed by Section 7 of the ESA.
(b) To the extent practicable under the law, the Secretary
of the Interior shall ensure a prompt and efficient review of
all submissions described in subsection (a) of this section, to
include identification of any legal deficiencies, in order to
ensure an initial determination within 20 days of receipt and
the ability to convene the Endangered Species Act Committee to
resolve the submission within 140 days of such initial
determination of eligibility.
(c) In the event that the committee has no pending
applications for review, the committee or its designees shall
nonetheless convene to identify obstacles to domestic energy
infrastructure specifically deriving from implementation of the
ESA or the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to include regulatory
reform efforts, species listings, and other related matters
with the aim of developing procedural, regulatory, and
interagency improvements.
Sec. 7. Coordinated Infrastructure Assistance. (a) In
collaboration with the Secretaries of Interior and Energy, the
Secretary of Defense shall conduct an assessment of the
Department of Defense's ability to acquire and transport the
energy, electricity, or fuels needed to protect the homeland
and to conduct operations abroad, and, within 60 days, shall
submit this assessment to the Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs. This assessment shall identify
specific vulnerabilities, including, but not limited to,
potentially insufficient transportation and refining
infrastructure across the Nation, with a focus on such
vulnerabilities within the Northeast and West Coast regions of
the United States. The assessment shall also identify and
recommend the requisite authorities and resources to remedy
such vulnerabilities, consistent with applicable law.
(b) In accordance with section 301 of the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), the construction authority
provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is
invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the
Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant Secretary
of the Army for Civil Works, to address any vulnerabilities
identified in the assessment mandated by subsection (a). Any
such recommended actions shall be submitted to the President
for review, through the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for
Economic Policy.
Sec. 8. Definitions. For purposes of this order, the
following definitions shall apply:
(a) The term ``energy'' or ``energy resources'' means crude
oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids,
refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal
heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical
minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3).
(b) The term ``production'' means the extraction or
creation of energy.
(c) The term ``transportation'' means the physical movement
of energy, including through, but not limited to, pipelines.
(d) The term ``refining'' means the physical or chemical
change of energy into a form that can be used by consumers or
users, including, but not limited to, the creation of gasoline,
diesel, ethanol, aviation fuel, or the beneficiation,
enrichment, or purification of minerals.
(e) The term ``generation'' means the use of energy to
produce electricity or thermal power and the transmission of
electricity from its site of generation.
(f) The term ``energy supply'' means the production,
transportation, refining, and generation of energy.
Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall
be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive
department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of OMB relating to
budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law
or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.
Donald J. Trump.
The White House, January 20, 2025.
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