[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 140 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5274-S5275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 4502. A bill to amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and 
transparency in the consideration of interstate natural gas pipeline 
permits, to provide for greater public input opportunities in the 
natural gas pipeline permitting process, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bipartisan bill to

[[Page S5275]]

make the process of siting natural gas pipelines fairer, more 
transparent, and more responsive to landowner concerns.
  For some time now, I have been listening to Virginians with 
passionate views on the process involved in permitting the 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 people 
1iving 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. It 
ensures that affected landowners are given proper notice and 
compensation. It guarantees that landowner complaints will be heard 
before construction commences. 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, which is an update to a version we introduced in the 115th 
Congress. The public deserves reasonable opportunity to weigh in on 
energy infrastructure projects, and we are heeding calls by our 
constituents to make this process 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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