| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 829 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To provide for Federal and State agency coordination in the approval of |
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| 6 | 6 | | certain authorizations under the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY6, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. B |
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| 10 | 10 | | URGESSintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To provide for Federal and State agency coordination in |
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| 14 | 14 | | the approval of certain authorizations under the Natural |
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| 15 | 15 | | Gas Act, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Interagency 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. FERC PROCESS COORDINATION FOR NATURAL GAS 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | PIPELINE PROJECTS. 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | (a) D |
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| 24 | 24 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) C |
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| 26 | 26 | | OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 10 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •HR 829 IH |
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| 31 | 31 | | (2) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION .—The term 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ‘‘Federal authorization’’ has the meaning given that 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | term in section 15(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | U.S.C. 717n(a)). 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (3) NEPA |
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| 36 | 36 | | REVIEW.—The term ‘‘NEPA review’’ 5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | means the process of reviewing a proposed Federal 6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | action under section 102 of the National Environ-7 |
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| 39 | 39 | | mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 8 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (4) P |
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| 41 | 41 | | ROJECT-RELATED NEPA REVIEW .—The 9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | term ‘‘project-related NEPA review’’ means any 10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | NEPA review required to be conducted with respect 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | to the issuance of an authorization under section 3 12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con-13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | venience and necessity under section 7 of such Act. 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (b) C |
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| 48 | 48 | | OMMISSIONNEPA REVIEWRESPONSIBIL-15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ITIES.—In acting as the lead agency under section 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | 15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act for the purposes of com-17 |
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| 51 | 51 | | plying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 18 |
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| 52 | 52 | | 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to an author-19 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ization under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certifi-20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | cate of public convenience and necessity under section 7 21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | of such Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with this 22 |
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| 56 | 56 | | section and other applicable Federal law— 23 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (1) be the only lead agency; 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 829 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | (2) coordinate as early as practicable with each 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | agency designated as a participating agency under 2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | subsection (d)(3) to ensure that the Commission de-3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | velops information in conducting its project-related 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | NEPA review that is usable by the participating 5 |
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| 66 | 66 | | agency in considering an aspect of an application for 6 |
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| 67 | 67 | | a Federal authorization for which the agency is re-7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | sponsible; and 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (3) take such actions as are necessary and 9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | proper to facilitate the expeditious resolution of its 10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | project-related NEPA review. 11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (c) D |
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| 73 | 73 | | EFERENCE TOCOMMISSION.—In making a deci-12 |
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| 74 | 74 | | sion with respect to a Federal authorization required with 13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | respect to an application for authorization under section 14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public conven-15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act, each agen-16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | cy shall give deference, to the maximum extent authorized 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | by law, to the scope of the project-related NEPA review 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | that the Commission determines to be appropriate. 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (d) P |
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| 82 | 82 | | ARTICIPATINGAGENCIES.— 20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (1) I |
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| 84 | 84 | | DENTIFICATION.—The Commission shall 21 |
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| 85 | 85 | | identify, as early as practicable after it is notified by 22 |
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| 86 | 86 | | a person applying for an authorization under section 23 |
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| 87 | 87 | | 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 24 |
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| 88 | 88 | | convenience and necessity under section 7 of such 25 |
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| 91 | 91 | | •HR 829 IH |
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| 92 | 92 | | Act, any Federal or State agency, local government, 1 |
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| 93 | 93 | | or Indian Tribe that may issue a Federal authoriza-2 |
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| 94 | 94 | | tion or is required by Federal law to consult with 3 |
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| 95 | 95 | | the Commission in conjunction with the issuance of 4 |
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| 96 | 96 | | a Federal authorization required for such authoriza-5 |
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| 97 | 97 | | tion or certificate. 6 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (2) I |
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| 99 | 99 | | NVITATION.— 7 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (A) I |
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| 101 | 101 | | N GENERAL.—The Commission shall 8 |
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| 102 | 102 | | invite any agency identified under paragraph 9 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (1) to participate in the review process for the 10 |
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| 104 | 104 | | applicable Federal authorization. 11 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (B) D |
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| 106 | 106 | | EADLINE.—An invitation issued 12 |
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| 107 | 107 | | under subparagraph (A) shall establish a dead-13 |
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| 108 | 108 | | line by which a response to the invitation shall 14 |
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| 109 | 109 | | be submitted to the Commission, which may be 15 |
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| 110 | 110 | | extended by the Commission for good cause. 16 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (3) D |
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| 112 | 112 | | ESIGNATION AS PARTICIPATING AGEN -17 |
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| 113 | 113 | | CIES.—The Commission shall designate an agency 18 |
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| 114 | 114 | | identified under paragraph (1) as a participating 19 |
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| 115 | 115 | | agency with respect to an application for authoriza-20 |
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| 116 | 116 | | tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 21 |
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| 117 | 117 | | certificate of public convenience and necessity under 22 |
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| 118 | 118 | | section 7 of such Act unless the agency informs the 23 |
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| 119 | 119 | | Commission, in writing, by the deadline established 24 |
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| 120 | 120 | | pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), that the agency— 25 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 1 |
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| 125 | 125 | | respect to the applicable Federal authorization; 2 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (B) has no special expertise or information 3 |
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| 127 | 127 | | relevant to any project-related NEPA review; or 4 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (C) does not intend to submit comments 5 |
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| 129 | 129 | | for the record for the project-related NEPA re-6 |
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| 130 | 130 | | view conducted by the Commission. 7 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (4) E |
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| 132 | 132 | | FFECT OF NON-DESIGNATION.— 8 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (A) E |
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| 134 | 134 | | FFECT ON AGENCY .—Any agency 9 |
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| 135 | 135 | | that is not designated as a participating agency 10 |
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| 136 | 136 | | under paragraph (3) with respect to an applica-11 |
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| 137 | 137 | | tion for an authorization under section 3 of the 12 |
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| 138 | 138 | | Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con-13 |
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| 139 | 139 | | venience and necessity under section 7 of such 14 |
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| 140 | 140 | | Act may not request or conduct a NEPA review 15 |
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| 141 | 141 | | that is supplemental to the project-related 16 |
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| 142 | 142 | | NEPA review conducted by the Commission, 17 |
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| 143 | 143 | | unless the agency— 18 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (i) demonstrates that such review is 19 |
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| 145 | 145 | | legally necessary for the agency to carry 20 |
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| 146 | 146 | | out responsibilities in considering an as-21 |
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| 147 | 147 | | pect of an application for a Federal au-22 |
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| 148 | 148 | | thorization; and 23 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (ii) requires information that could 24 |
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| 150 | 150 | | not have been obtained during the project- 25 |
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| 153 | 153 | | •HR 829 IH |
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| 154 | 154 | | related NEPA review conducted by the 1 |
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| 155 | 155 | | Commission. 2 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (B) C |
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| 157 | 157 | | OMMENTS; RECORD.—The Commis-3 |
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| 158 | 158 | | sion shall not, with respect to an agency that is 4 |
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| 159 | 159 | | not designated as a participating agency under 5 |
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| 160 | 160 | | paragraph (3) with respect to an application for 6 |
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| 161 | 161 | | an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 7 |
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| 162 | 162 | | Gas Act or a certificate of public convenience 8 |
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| 163 | 163 | | and necessity under section 7 of such Act— 9 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (i) consider any comments or other in-10 |
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| 165 | 165 | | formation submitted by such agency for 11 |
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| 166 | 166 | | the project-related NEPA review conducted 12 |
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| 167 | 167 | | by the Commission; or 13 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (ii) include any such comments or 14 |
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| 169 | 169 | | other information in the record for such 15 |
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| 170 | 170 | | project-related NEPA review. 16 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (e) S |
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| 172 | 172 | | CHEDULE.— 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (1) D |
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| 174 | 174 | | EADLINE FOR FEDERAL AUTHORIZA -18 |
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| 175 | 175 | | TIONS.—A deadline for a Federal authorization re-19 |
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| 176 | 176 | | quired with respect to an application for authoriza-20 |
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| 177 | 177 | | tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 21 |
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| 178 | 178 | | certificate of public convenience and necessity under 22 |
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| 179 | 179 | | section 7 of such Act set by the Commission under 23 |
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| 180 | 180 | | section 15(c)(1) of such Act shall be not later than 24 |
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| 181 | 181 | | 90 days after the Commission completes its project- 25 |
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| 185 | 185 | | related NEPA review, unless an applicable schedule 1 |
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| 186 | 186 | | is otherwise established by Federal law. 2 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (2) C |
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| 188 | 188 | | ONCURRENT REVIEWS .—Each Federal and 3 |
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| 189 | 189 | | State agency— 4 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (A) that may consider an application for a 5 |
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| 191 | 191 | | Federal authorization required with respect to 6 |
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| 192 | 192 | | an application for authorization under section 3 7 |
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| 193 | 193 | | of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 8 |
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| 194 | 194 | | convenience and necessity under section 7 of 9 |
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| 195 | 195 | | such Act shall formulate and implement a plan 10 |
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| 196 | 196 | | for administrative, policy, and procedural mech-11 |
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| 197 | 197 | | anisms to enable the agency to ensure comple-12 |
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| 198 | 198 | | tion of Federal authorizations in compliance 13 |
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| 199 | 199 | | with schedules established by the Commission 14 |
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| 200 | 200 | | under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; and 15 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (B) in considering an aspect of an applica-16 |
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| 202 | 202 | | tion for a Federal authorization required with 17 |
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| 203 | 203 | | respect to an application for authorization 18 |
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| 204 | 204 | | under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 19 |
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| 205 | 205 | | certificate of public convenience and necessity 20 |
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| 206 | 206 | | under section 7 of such Act, shall— 21 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (i) formulate and implement a plan to 22 |
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| 208 | 208 | | enable the agency to comply with the 23 |
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| 209 | 209 | | schedule established by the Commission 24 |
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| 210 | 210 | | under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; 25 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (ii) carry out the obligations of that 1 |
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| 215 | 215 | | agency under applicable law concurrently, 2 |
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| 216 | 216 | | and in conjunction with, the project-related 3 |
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| 217 | 217 | | NEPA review conducted by the Commis-4 |
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| 218 | 218 | | sion, and in compliance with the schedule 5 |
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| 219 | 219 | | established by the Commission under sec-6 |
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| 220 | 220 | | tion 15(c)(1) of such Act, unless the agen-7 |
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| 221 | 221 | | cy notifies the Commission in writing that 8 |
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| 222 | 222 | | doing so would impair the ability of the 9 |
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| 223 | 223 | | agency to conduct needed analysis or oth-10 |
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| 224 | 224 | | erwise carry out such obligations; 11 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (iii) transmit to the Commission a 12 |
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| 226 | 226 | | statement— 13 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (I) acknowledging receipt of the 14 |
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| 228 | 228 | | schedule established by the Commis-15 |
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| 229 | 229 | | sion under section 15(c)(1) of the 16 |
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| 230 | 230 | | Natural Gas Act; and 17 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (II) setting forth the plan formu-18 |
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| 232 | 232 | | lated under clause (i) of this subpara-19 |
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| 233 | 233 | | graph; 20 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (iv) not later than 30 days after the 21 |
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| 235 | 235 | | agency receives such application for a Fed-22 |
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| 236 | 236 | | eral authorization, transmit to the appli-23 |
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| 237 | 237 | | cant a notice— 24 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (I) indicating whether such appli-1 |
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| 242 | 242 | | cation is ready for processing; and 2 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (II) if such application is not 3 |
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| 244 | 244 | | ready for processing, that includes a 4 |
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| 245 | 245 | | comprehensive description of the in-5 |
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| 246 | 246 | | formation needed for the agency to 6 |
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| 247 | 247 | | determine that the application is 7 |
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| 248 | 248 | | ready for processing; 8 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (v) determine that such application 9 |
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| 250 | 250 | | for a Federal authorization is ready for 10 |
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| 251 | 251 | | processing for purposes of clause (iv) if 11 |
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| 252 | 252 | | such application is sufficiently complete for 12 |
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| 253 | 253 | | the purposes of commencing consideration, 13 |
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| 254 | 254 | | regardless of whether supplemental infor-14 |
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| 255 | 255 | | mation is necessary to enable the agency to 15 |
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| 256 | 256 | | complete the consideration required by law 16 |
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| 257 | 257 | | with respect to such application; and 17 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (vi) not less often than once every 90 18 |
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| 259 | 259 | | days, transmit to the Commission a report 19 |
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| 260 | 260 | | describing the progress made in consid-20 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ering such application for a Federal au-21 |
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| 262 | 262 | | thorization. 22 |
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| 263 | 263 | | (3) F |
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| 264 | 264 | | AILURE TO MEET DEADLINE .—If a Fed-23 |
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| 265 | 265 | | eral or State agency, including the Commission, fails 24 |
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| 266 | 266 | | to meet a deadline for a Federal authorization set 25 |
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| 270 | 270 | | forth in the schedule established by the Commission 1 |
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| 271 | 271 | | under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act, not 2 |
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| 272 | 272 | | later than 5 days after such deadline, the head of 3 |
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| 273 | 273 | | the relevant Federal agency (including, in the case 4 |
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| 274 | 274 | | of a failure by a State agency, the Federal agency 5 |
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| 275 | 275 | | overseeing the delegated authority) shall notify Con-6 |
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| 276 | 276 | | gress and the Commission of such failure and set 7 |
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| 277 | 277 | | forth a recommended implementation plan to ensure 8 |
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| 278 | 278 | | completion of the action to which such deadline ap-9 |
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| 279 | 279 | | plied. 10 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (f) C |
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| 281 | 281 | | ONSIDERATION OFAPPLICATIONS FORFEDERAL 11 |
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| 282 | 282 | | A |
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| 283 | 283 | | UTHORIZATION.— 12 |
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| 284 | 284 | | (1) I |
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| 285 | 285 | | SSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLU -13 |
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| 286 | 286 | | TION.— 14 |
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| 287 | 287 | | (A) I |
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| 288 | 288 | | DENTIFICATION.—Federal and State 15 |
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| 289 | 289 | | agencies that may consider an aspect of an ap-16 |
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| 290 | 290 | | plication for a Federal authorization shall iden-17 |
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| 291 | 291 | | tify, as early as possible, any issues of concern 18 |
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| 292 | 292 | | that may delay or prevent an agency from 19 |
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| 293 | 293 | | working with the Commission to resolve such 20 |
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| 294 | 294 | | issues and granting such authorization. 21 |
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| 295 | 295 | | (B) I |
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| 296 | 296 | | SSUE RESOLUTION.—The Commission 22 |
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| 297 | 297 | | may forward any issue of concern identified 23 |
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| 298 | 298 | | under subparagraph (A) to the heads of the rel-24 |
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| 299 | 299 | | evant agencies (including, in the case of an 25 |
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| 303 | 303 | | issue of concern that is a failure by a State 1 |
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| 304 | 304 | | agency, the Federal agency overseeing the dele-2 |
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| 305 | 305 | | gated authority, if applicable) for resolution. 3 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (2) R |
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| 307 | 307 | | EMOTE SURVEYS.—If a Federal or State 4 |
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| 308 | 308 | | agency considering an aspect of an application for a 5 |
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| 309 | 309 | | Federal authorization requires the person applying 6 |
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| 310 | 310 | | for such authorization to submit data, the agency 7 |
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| 311 | 311 | | shall consider any such data gathered by aerial or 8 |
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| 312 | 312 | | other remote means that the person submits. The 9 |
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| 313 | 313 | | agency may grant a conditional approval for the 10 |
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| 314 | 314 | | Federal authorization based on data gathered by 11 |
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| 315 | 315 | | aerial or remote means, conditioned on the 12 |
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| 316 | 316 | | verification of such data by subsequent onsite in-13 |
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| 317 | 317 | | spection. 14 |
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| 318 | 318 | | (3) A |
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| 319 | 319 | | PPLICATION PROCESSING .—The Commis-15 |
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| 320 | 320 | | sion, and Federal and State agencies, may allow a 16 |
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| 321 | 321 | | person applying for a Federal authorization to fund 17 |
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| 322 | 322 | | a third-party contractor to assist in reviewing the 18 |
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| 323 | 323 | | application for such authorization. 19 |
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| 324 | 324 | | (g) A |
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| 325 | 325 | | CCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EFFI-20 |
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| 326 | 326 | | CIENCY.—For an application for an authorization under 21 |
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| 327 | 327 | | section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 22 |
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| 328 | 328 | | convenience and necessity under section 7 of such Act that 23 |
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| 329 | 329 | | requires multiple Federal authorizations, the Commission, 24 |
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| 330 | 330 | | with input from any Federal or State agency considering 25 |
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| 334 | 334 | | an aspect of the application, shall track and make avail-1 |
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| 335 | 335 | | able to the public on the Commission’s website information 2 |
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| 336 | 336 | | related to the actions required to complete the Federal au-3 |
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| 337 | 337 | | thorizations. Such information shall include the following: 4 |
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| 338 | 338 | | (1) The schedule established by the Commission 5 |
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| 339 | 339 | | under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act. 6 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (2) A list of all the actions required by each ap-7 |
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| 341 | 341 | | plicable agency to complete permitting, reviews, and 8 |
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| 342 | 342 | | other actions necessary to obtain a final decision on 9 |
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| 343 | 343 | | the application. 10 |
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| 344 | 344 | | (3) The expected completion date for each such 11 |
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| 345 | 345 | | action. 12 |
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| 346 | 346 | | (4) A point of contact at the agency responsible 13 |
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| 347 | 347 | | for each such action. 14 |
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| 348 | 348 | | (5) In the event that an action is still pending 15 |
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| 349 | 349 | | as of the expected date of completion, a brief expla-16 |
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| 350 | 350 | | nation of the reasons for the delay. 17 |
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| 351 | 351 | | SEC. 3. PIPELINE SECURITY. 18 |
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| 352 | 352 | | In considering an application for an authorization 19 |
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| 353 | 353 | | under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate 20 |
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| 354 | 354 | | of public convenience and necessity under section 7 of such 21 |
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| 355 | 355 | | Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall 22 |
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| 356 | 356 | | consult with the Administrator of the Transportation Se-23 |
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| 357 | 357 | | curity Administration regarding the applicant’s compli-24 |
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| 358 | 358 | | ance with security guidance and best practice rec-25 |
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| 359 | 359 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H829.IH H829 |
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| 360 | 360 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 |
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| 361 | 361 | | •HR 829 IH |
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| 362 | 362 | | ommendations of the Administration regarding pipeline 1 |
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| 363 | 363 | | infrastructure security, pipeline cybersecurity, pipeline 2 |
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| 364 | 364 | | personnel security, and other pipeline security measures. 3 |
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| 365 | 365 | | Æ |
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| 366 | 366 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H829.IH H829 |
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| 367 | 367 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB |
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