| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 381 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that impacts to climate stability, |
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| 6 | 6 | | consumer energy costs, and environmental justice be considered in a |
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| 7 | 7 | | determination of whether proposed exportation of natural gas is in the |
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| 8 | 8 | | public interest, and for other purposes. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 10 | 10 | | JANUARY14, 2025 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. C |
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| 12 | 12 | | ASTEN(for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr. GRI- |
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| 13 | 13 | | JALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. MCGOVERN, |
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| 14 | 14 | | Mr. M |
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| 15 | 15 | | ULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCHA- |
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| 16 | 16 | | KOWSKY, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was re- |
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| 17 | 17 | | ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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| 18 | 18 | | A BILL |
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| 19 | 19 | | To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that impacts |
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| 20 | 20 | | to climate stability, consumer energy costs, and environ- |
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| 21 | 21 | | mental justice be considered in a determination of wheth- |
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| 22 | 22 | | er proposed exportation of natural gas is in the public |
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| 23 | 23 | | interest, and for other purposes. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LNG Public Interest 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | Determination Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 32 | 32 | | SEC. 2. EXPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS. 1 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (a) E |
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| 34 | 34 | | XPORTATION OFNATURALGAS.—Section 3 of 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended by add-3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ing at the end the following: 4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(g) E |
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| 38 | 38 | | XPORTATION OFNATURALGAS.— 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(1) O |
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| 40 | 40 | | RDER REQUIRED.—No person shall ex-6 |
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| 41 | 41 | | port any natural gas from the United States to a 7 |
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| 42 | 42 | | foreign country without first having secured an 8 |
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| 43 | 43 | | order of the Secretary of Energy authorizing it to do 9 |
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| 44 | 44 | | so. The Secretary of Energy may issue such order 10 |
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| 45 | 45 | | upon application only if, after opportunity for hear-11 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ing, the Secretary of Energy finds that the proposed 12 |
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| 47 | 47 | | exportation will be consistent with the public inter-13 |
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| 48 | 48 | | est. The Secretary of Energy may by its order grant 14 |
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| 49 | 49 | | such application, in whole or in part, with such 15 |
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| 50 | 50 | | modification and upon such terms and conditions as 16 |
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| 51 | 51 | | the Secretary of Energy may find necessary or ap-17 |
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| 52 | 52 | | propriate, and may from time to time, after oppor-18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | tunity for hearing, and for good cause shown, issue 19 |
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| 54 | 54 | | such supplemental order for such exportation as it 20 |
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| 55 | 55 | | may find necessary or appropriate. 21 |
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| 56 | 56 | | ‘‘(2) D |
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| 57 | 57 | | EADLINE.—The Secretary of Energy 22 |
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| 58 | 58 | | shall find whether proposed exportation of natural 23 |
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| 59 | 59 | | gas will be consistent with the public interest under 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | paragraph (1) by not later than the date that is 1 25 |
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| 61 | 61 | | year after the later of— 26 |
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| 64 | 64 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 65 | 65 | | ‘‘(A) the date on which the Secretary of 1 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Energy receives the final environmental impact 2 |
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| 67 | 67 | | statement for such proposed exportation from 3 |
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| 68 | 68 | | the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; 4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | and 5 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ‘‘(B) the date on which the Secretary com-6 |
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| 71 | 71 | | pletes each assessment required by paragraph 7 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (4). 8 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(3) P |
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| 74 | 74 | | UBLIC INTEREST FINDING .—The Sec-9 |
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| 75 | 75 | | retary of Energy may find that proposed exportation 10 |
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| 76 | 76 | | of natural gas for which an application is submitted 11 |
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| 77 | 77 | | under paragraph (1) will be consistent with the pub-12 |
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| 78 | 78 | | lic interest under such paragraph only if the Sec-13 |
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| 79 | 79 | | retary of Energy determines, based on the applicable 14 |
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| 80 | 80 | | assessment under paragraph (4), that the proposed 15 |
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| 81 | 81 | | exportation of natural gas will not be likely to— 16 |
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| 82 | 82 | | ‘‘(A) significantly contribute to climate 17 |
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| 83 | 83 | | change, including by slowing the global energy 18 |
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| 84 | 84 | | transition needed to achieve deep reductions of 19 |
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| 85 | 85 | | global greenhouse gas emissions within the next 20 |
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| 86 | 86 | | decade and net-zero global greenhouse gas 21 |
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| 87 | 87 | | emissions not later than 2050; 22 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(B) materially increase energy prices or 23 |
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| 89 | 89 | | energy price volatility for any segment of 24 |
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| 90 | 90 | | United States consumers; or 25 |
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| 93 | 93 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(C) create a disproportionate cumulative 1 |
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| 95 | 95 | | burden of adverse human or environmental im-2 |
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| 96 | 96 | | pacts on rural, low-income, minority, and other 3 |
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| 97 | 97 | | vulnerable communities. 4 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ‘‘(4) A |
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| 99 | 99 | | SSESSMENTS.— 5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(A) C |
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| 101 | 101 | | LIMATE CHANGE ASSESSMENT .—A 6 |
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| 102 | 102 | | determination under paragraph (3)(A) shall be 7 |
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| 103 | 103 | | based on an assessment of the expected impact 8 |
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| 104 | 104 | | of the proposed exportation of natural gas on 9 |
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| 105 | 105 | | climate change. Such assessment shall be based 10 |
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| 106 | 106 | | on the latest scientific information and use the 11 |
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| 107 | 107 | | 20-year global warming potential of methane, 12 |
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| 108 | 108 | | and shall include— 13 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ‘‘(i) quantified estimates of the green-14 |
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| 110 | 110 | | house gas emissions associated with the 15 |
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| 111 | 111 | | full lifecycle of the natural gas proposed 16 |
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| 112 | 112 | | for exportation, including emissions associ-17 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ated with the extraction, transportation, 18 |
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| 114 | 114 | | liquefaction, storage, regasification, and 19 |
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| 115 | 115 | | consumption of such natural gas; 20 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(ii) a comparison of the estimated 21 |
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| 117 | 117 | | greenhouse gas emissions in clause (i) to a 22 |
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| 118 | 118 | | baseline that is consistent with United 23 |
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| 119 | 119 | | States international commitments to 24 |
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| 120 | 120 | | achieve deep reductions of global green-25 |
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| 123 | 123 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 124 | 124 | | house gas emissions within the next decade 1 |
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| 125 | 125 | | and deep decarbonization pathways toward 2 |
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| 126 | 126 | | net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions 3 |
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| 127 | 127 | | not later than 2050; 4 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ‘‘(iii) an assessment of the potential 5 |
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| 129 | 129 | | effects of the proposed exportation of nat-6 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ural gas on clean energy alternatives, in-7 |
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| 131 | 131 | | cluding— 8 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(I) any decrease in global in-9 |
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| 133 | 133 | | vestment in and deployment of renew-10 |
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| 134 | 134 | | able energy, electrification, and energy 11 |
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| 135 | 135 | | efficiency and conservation tech-12 |
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| 136 | 136 | | nologies; and 13 |
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| 137 | 137 | | ‘‘(II) any decrease in United 14 |
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| 138 | 138 | | States exports of clean energy tech-15 |
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| 139 | 139 | | nologies; 16 |
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| 140 | 140 | | ‘‘(iv) quantified estimates of the social 17 |
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| 141 | 141 | | cost of the estimated greenhouse gas emis-18 |
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| 142 | 142 | | sions in clause (i); and 19 |
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| 143 | 143 | | ‘‘(v) an identification of the extent to 20 |
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| 144 | 144 | | which climate change is accelerating the 21 |
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| 145 | 145 | | loss of economic value in the United States 22 |
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| 146 | 146 | | due to rising sea levels, more intense 23 |
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| 147 | 147 | | storms, eroding coasts, increased risk and 24 |
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| 150 | 150 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 151 | 151 | | severity of wild fires, and other impacts as-1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | sociated with climate change. 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(B) E |
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| 154 | 154 | | CONOMIC ASSESSMENT .—A deter-3 |
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| 155 | 155 | | mination under paragraph (3)(B) shall be based 4 |
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| 156 | 156 | | on an assessment of the expected economic im-5 |
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| 157 | 157 | | pact of the proposed exportation of natural gas, 6 |
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| 158 | 158 | | including an assessment of the impact of the 7 |
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| 159 | 159 | | proposed exportation on all United States con-8 |
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| 160 | 160 | | sumers, with specific estimates regarding each 9 |
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| 161 | 161 | | of the following consumer subgroups: 10 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ‘‘(i) Low-income consumers. 11 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(ii) Working families. 12 |
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| 164 | 164 | | ‘‘(iii) Small businesses. 13 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ‘‘(iv) Manufacturers. 14 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(v) State and local governments. 15 |
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| 167 | 167 | | ‘‘(vi) Producers and users of fertilizer. 16 |
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| 168 | 168 | | ‘‘(C) E |
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| 169 | 169 | | NVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ASSESS -17 |
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| 170 | 170 | | MENT.—A determination under paragraph 18 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (3)(C) shall be based on an assessment of the 19 |
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| 172 | 172 | | expected impact of the proposed exportation of 20 |
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| 173 | 173 | | natural gas on environmental justice (which 21 |
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| 174 | 174 | | shall be consistent with Executive Order 14096 22 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (42 U.S.C. 4321 note; relating to revitalizing 23 |
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| 176 | 176 | | our Nation’s commitment to environmental jus-24 |
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| 179 | 179 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 180 | 180 | | tice for all), as published April 21, 2023), in-1 |
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| 181 | 181 | | cluding assessments of impacts on— 2 |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘(i) the preexisting cumulative envi-3 |
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| 183 | 183 | | ronmental burdens and social and health 4 |
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| 184 | 184 | | risks posed to rural, low-income, minority, 5 |
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| 185 | 185 | | and other vulnerable communities; 6 |
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| 186 | 186 | | ‘‘(ii) local fisheries and the economic 7 |
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| 187 | 187 | | livelihood of the people employed by local 8 |
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| 188 | 188 | | fisheries; 9 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(iii) racial and socioeconomic dispari-10 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ties in impacted communities; and 11 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ‘‘(iv) compliance with civil rights laws. 12 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(5) P |
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| 193 | 193 | | UBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 13 |
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| 194 | 194 | | of Energy shall— 14 |
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| 195 | 195 | | ‘‘(A) provide to the public an opportunity 15 |
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| 196 | 196 | | to meaningfully participate, including by pro-16 |
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| 197 | 197 | | viding comments, in— 17 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(i) the finding of the Secretary of 18 |
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| 199 | 199 | | Energy on whether proposed exportation 19 |
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| 200 | 200 | | will be consistent with the public interest 20 |
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| 201 | 201 | | under paragraph (1); and 21 |
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| 202 | 202 | | ‘‘(ii) any study by the Department of 22 |
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| 203 | 203 | | Energy intended to inform such finding; 23 |
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| 204 | 204 | | and 24 |
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| 207 | 207 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(B) ensure that opportunities to meaning-1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | fully participate under subparagraph (A) ad-2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | dress barriers that affect members of commu-3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | nities with environmental justice concerns, in-4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | cluding those related to disability, language ac-5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | cess, and lack of resources. 6 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(6) M |
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| 215 | 215 | | AJOR FEDERAL ACTION .—Issuing an 7 |
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| 216 | 216 | | order authorizing the exportation of natural gas 8 |
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| 217 | 217 | | under this subsection shall be considered a major 9 |
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| 218 | 218 | | Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na-10 |
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| 219 | 219 | | tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 11 |
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| 220 | 220 | | 4332(2)(C)).’’. 12 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (b) C |
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| 222 | 222 | | ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the 13 |
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| 223 | 223 | | Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 14 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (1) in subsection (a)— 15 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (A) by striking ‘‘export any natural gas 16 |
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| 226 | 226 | | from the United States to a foreign country 17 |
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| 227 | 227 | | or’’; 18 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (B) by inserting ‘‘to the United States’’ 19 |
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| 229 | 229 | | after ‘‘from a foreign country’’; and 20 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (C) by striking ‘‘exportation or’’; and 21 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (2) in subsection (c)— 22 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (A) by striking ‘‘, or the exportation of 23 |
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| 233 | 233 | | natural gas to a nation with which there is in 24 |
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| 236 | 236 | | •HR 381 IH |
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| 237 | 237 | | effect a free trade agreement requiring national 1 |
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| 238 | 238 | | treatment for trade in natural gas,’’; and 2 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (B) by striking ‘‘or exportation’’. 3 |
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| 240 | 240 | | SEC. 3. PROCESS COORDINATION; HEARINGS; RULES OF 4 |
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| 241 | 241 | | PROCEDURE. 5 |
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| 242 | 242 | | Section 15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 6 |
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| 243 | 243 | | 717n(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and in-7 |
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| 244 | 244 | | serting ‘‘Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’’. 8 |
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| 245 | 245 | | SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR 9 |
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| 246 | 246 | | APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF THE EXPOR-10 |
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| 247 | 247 | | TATION OF NATURAL GAS. 11 |
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| 248 | 248 | | The categorical exclusion under B5.7 of appendix B 12 |
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| 249 | 249 | | to subpart D of part 1021 of title 10, Code of Federal 13 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Regulations, (relating to export of natural gas and associ-14 |
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| 251 | 251 | | ated transportation by marine vessel) shall have no force 15 |
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| 252 | 252 | | or effect. 16 |
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| 253 | 253 | | SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 17 |
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| 254 | 254 | | Not later than one year after the date of enactment 18 |
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| 255 | 255 | | of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall issue a rule to 19 |
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| 256 | 256 | | carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 20 |
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| 257 | 257 | | Æ |
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