[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 39 (Thursday, April 11, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2602-S2603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PIPELINE AND TRANSMISSION STREAMLINING

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Madam President, I would like to spend a few minutes 
today talking about an amendment that I filed on the energy bill, 
amendment No. 3116. It is titled the ``Integrated Review of Energy 
Delivery Systems Act of 2002.''
  This amendment, which Senator Landrieu has cosponsored, will 
streamline the siting process for energy pipelines and transmission 
lines.
  As my colleagues know, one of the biggest challenges we face in 
ensuring that we have a consistent energy policy is ensuring we get 
energy to where it is needed. One of the problems we have had in 
previous winters has been the inability of energy supply to meet the 
demand solely because of bottlenecks in the distribution system.
  Unless we address the situation, each winter places such as the 
northeastern part of the United States will continue to face high 
spikes in prices because their electric power grid and their pipeline 
system are both severely overtaxed. Removing this bottleneck will help 
stem huge potential problems down the road.
  The Presiding Officer knows that one of the concerns we had last year 
was whether or not we would be able to get electricity into New York, 
into the Presiding Officer's part of the country, because of the issue 
of transmission lines. We were fortunate last summer was not that hot 
and the demand was not up, so there were not any brownouts or 
blackouts. But it is very important we move forward with siting these 
transmission lines so we can get power into the areas that need them.

  The amendment Senator Landrieu and I have written would require all 
Federal agencies to coordinate the environmental reviews of energy 
pipelines and transmission lines so that the reviews take place 
simultaneously and a decision can be reached quickly on whether to move 
forward with the projects.
  This amendment does not change underlying environmental statutes, nor 
does it change the environmental standards used for approving these 
projects. All current and future environmental laws are not changed by 
the amendment. Let me repeat that: Current and future environmental 
laws are not changed.
  This amendment is based on a bill I introduced last year, S. 1580, 
the Environmental Streamlining of Energy Facilities Act of 2001, which 
would have applied to all energy facilities.
  The idea for this amendment is from the environmental streamlining 
provisions of the highway bill, TEA-21. In that legislation, an 
amendment offered by Senators Wyden, Graham, and Bob Smith required the 
Transportation Department to coordinate all environmental reviews for 
highway projects so that the reviews would take place at the same time, 
saving years on major highway projects.
  What we are trying to do today is apply this same concept to the 
building of pipelines and transmission lines. Today we are facing a 
shortage of pipelines, and it is becoming more difficult every day to 
site transmission lines. While this amendment would not change the laws 
of eminent domain or the environmental standards, what it will do is 
help expedite the review process.
  I would like to briefly outline the provisions of my amendment.
  First, we designate one lead agency to coordinate the review process. 
To eliminate the duplication efforts by agencies with oversight for the 
construction, operation, and maintenance of pipelines and transmission 
lines, a single Federal agency would be identified to coordinate all 
required paperwork and research for the environmental review of a 
proposed pipeline or transmission system.
  The agencies involved in this process would include the Environmental 
Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, FERC, the Army Corps of 
Engineers, and the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline 
Safety.
  Agencies with partial oversight for a project would provide 
information from their area of expertise, while the

[[Page S2603]]

lead agency would be responsible for establishing the deadlines, 
facilitating communication between the agencies, and defining the role 
of participating agencies during the environmental review process.
  The lead agency, along with the Governor of the State where the 
application for the facility has been made, would work together to 
provide early notification to the public in order to identify and 
address any environmental concerns associated with the proposed system.
  If there appears to be an environmental concern related to the 
permitting, the Council on Environmental Quality, in conjunction with 
the heads of the lead agency and participating agencies, would work 
together to resolve the matter within 30 days.
  The problem is, when differences of opinion arise, it can take 
forever for these differences to be resolved. What we are suggesting in 
this legislation is that they would be brought to the Council on 
Environmental Quality, and they would sit down with the lead agency and 
participating agencies, and they would work together to get a 
resolution within 30 days.
  The amendment directs coordination between the Federal, State, and 
local governments on particular projects. After a lead agency is 
appointed, it would be required to coordinate the environmental review 
process with input from Federal, State, and local governments. This 
includes the preparation of environmental impact statements, review 
analysis, opinions, determinations, or authorizations required under 
Federal law.
  The amendment also allows for Federal delegation to the States. At 
the request of a Governor, and with the agreement of the applicant, a 
State agency may assume the role of lead agency. The Federal agency 
would delegate to the State agency the authority to prepare the Federal 
environmental impact statement or other environmental assessment 
following the procedures for a Federal lead agency.
  Where there is a delegation of authority to the State, the lead 
agency continues to provide guidance and participation in preparing the 
final version of the environmental impact statement or environmental 
assessment. The lead Federal agency must also provide an independent 
evaluation of the statement or assessment prior to its approval.
  Finally, the standard of review under State and Federal laws relating 
to the siting or construction or operation of a pipeline or 
transmission line would not be preempted, and the lead Federal agency 
is authorized to provide funding to the State when they assume the 
Federal responsibility.
  It is vital that we act on the problem of expediting the siting of 
pipelines and transmission lines. This is a problem that plagues the 
entire country, including my home State of Ohio. However, in my view, 
the region which probably needs this provision the most is the 
Northeast.
  According to a study by ISO New England Corporation, the nonprofit 
operator of New England's power grid has said that New England is 
increasing its natural gas demand from 16 percent in 1999, to a 
projected 45-percent demand in 2005. Unfortunately, they lack the local 
pipelines to distribute that gas to their markets.
  The study says that there is no worry about any blackouts, unless 
nothing has changed one year from now. Three of the changes they need 
are: New gas-fired plants should be allowed to develop the ability to 
burn oil as a backup. The second is the regional pipeline system has to 
be expanded. And third, new compressors need to be added to existing 
pipelines to increase delivery capacity. So there is a genuine need 
there to move forward with providing pipelines so they can get gas into 
the Northeast, s ISO stated in its report issued in January of last 
year.

  The chairman of the ISO New England, Mr. William Berry, said:

       The long and complicated federal permitting process for 
     building new interstate pipelines is a greater obstacle than 
     the technical construction work.

  The amendment Senator Landrieu and I introduced will help speed up, 
as Mr. Berry calls it, ``the long and complicated federal permitting 
process,'' and it will do so without jeopardizing any environmental 
protections and without changing any of our current environmental laws.
  This amendment is supported by the American Gas Association, the 
American Chemistry Council, the Edison Electric Institute, the 
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the Association of Oil 
Pipelines, and the National Association of Manufacturers.
  This is a commonsense approach to requiring our Federal agencies to 
work together to get the permitting decisions considered at the same 
time. According to the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, 
the United States will need 49,500 miles of new natural gas 
transmission lines between now and 2015. That is just to keep up with 
the large projected increase in demand for natural gas. It is also 
projected that our demand for natural gas will increase by 50 percent 
by the year 2020.
  We need to act today to ensure that our energy can be delivered to 
American homes tomorrow. I hope this amendment will be accepted and we 
can move forward with providing both industry and American consumers 
the confidence that the Federal Government will not be an obstacle to 
the delivery of energy and that this can be done without changing or 
undermining our environmental laws.
  I yield the floor.

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