[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. WARNER):
  S. 1314. A bill to amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and 
transparency in consideration of interstate natural gas pipelines, to 
provide for greater public input opportunities, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President. Today I am introducing a bipartisan bill to 
make the process of siting natural gas pipelines fairer and more 
transparent.
  For some time now, I have been listening to Virginians with 
passionate views on the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley 
Pipelines. For various reasons, many oppose one or both of these 
projects, while others support these projects. The Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, FERC, is tasked with analyzing all the issues--
purpose and need for a project, impacts on 2 'people living on the 
route, potential risks to the environment or property--and deciding 
what course best serves the public interest.
  From listening to all sides, I have concluded that while reasonable 
people may reach different conclusions, FERC's public input process is 
flawed and could be better. Accordingly, this legislation proposes 
several steps to address several shortcomings, all of which were 
originally brought to my attention by Virginia constituents. For 
instance, this bill requires programmatic analysis of pipelines 
proposed around the same time and in the same geographic vicinity so 
that the full impacts of multiple projects can be analyzed. It requires 
a greater number of public comment meetings so that citizens are not 
required to commute long distances to meetings at which they must speed 
through just a few minutes of remarks on these complex topics. And it 
clarifies the circumstances under which eminent domain should and 
should not be used.
  I am pleased to be joined by my colleague Senator Mark Warner on this 
bill, and our Virginia Republican colleague Representative Morgan 
Griffith is preparing a similar bill in the House of Representatives. 
While our views may differ on many aspects of energy policy, we can all 
agree that the public deserves reasonable opportunity to weigh in on 
energy infrastructure projects and that this process can be fairer and 
more transparent without mandating a particular outcome.
  I encourage the Senate to consider this legislation, not to pave the 
way for pipelines nor to throw up insurmountable roadblocks to them--
but to give the public greater certainty that the federal government's 
infrastructure decisions are fair and transparent.

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