I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 647
To repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY31, 2023
Mr. J
OHNSONof Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural
gas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unlocking our Domes-4
tic LNG Potential Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP. 6
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 7
is amended— 8
(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c); 9
(2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 10
subsections (a) and (b), respectively; 11
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H647.IH H647
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 647 IH
(3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-1
section (c), and moving such subsection after sub-2
section (b), as so redesignated; 3
(4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by 4
amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘(1) The 5
Commission shall have the exclusive authority to ap-6
prove or deny an application for the siting, construc-7
tion, expansion, or operation of a facility to export 8
natural gas from the United States to a foreign 9
country or import natural gas from a foreign coun-10
try, including an LNG terminal. Except as specifi-11
cally provided in this Act, nothing in this Act is in-12
tended to affect otherwise applicable law related to 13
any Federal agency’s authorities or responsibilities 14
related to facilities to import or export natural gas, 15
including LNG terminals.’’; and 16
(5) by adding at the end the following new sub-17
section: 18
‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of 19
the President under the Constitution, the International 20
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 21
seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 22
seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva-23
tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the 24
Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H647.IH H647
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 647 IH
sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 1
foreign government (including any provision of law that 2
prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging 3
in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), 4
including a country that is designated as a state sponsor 5
of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports. 6
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter-7
rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec-8
retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup-9
port for international terrorism pursuant to— 10
‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con-11
trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)); 12
‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 13
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 14
‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 15
(22 U.S.C. 2780); or 16
‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’. 17
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H647.IH H647
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS