I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 381
To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that impacts to climate stability,
consumer energy costs, and environmental justice be considered in a
determination of whether proposed exportation of natural gas is in the
public interest, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY14, 2025
Mr. C
ASTEN(for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. MCGOVERN,
Mr. M
ULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that impacts
to climate stability, consumer energy costs, and environ-
mental justice be considered in a determination of wheth-
er proposed exportation of natural gas is in the public
interest, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘LNG Public Interest 4
Determination Act of 2025’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 381 IH
SEC. 2. EXPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS. 1
(a) E
XPORTATION OFNATURALGAS.—Section 3 of 2
the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended by add-3
ing at the end the following: 4
‘‘(g) E
XPORTATION OFNATURALGAS.— 5
‘‘(1) O
RDER REQUIRED.—No person shall ex-6
port any natural gas from the United States to a 7
foreign country without first having secured an 8
order of the Secretary of Energy authorizing it to do 9
so. The Secretary of Energy may issue such order 10
upon application only if, after opportunity for hear-11
ing, the Secretary of Energy finds that the proposed 12
exportation will be consistent with the public inter-13
est. The Secretary of Energy may by its order grant 14
such application, in whole or in part, with such 15
modification and upon such terms and conditions as 16
the Secretary of Energy may find necessary or ap-17
propriate, and may from time to time, after oppor-18
tunity for hearing, and for good cause shown, issue 19
such supplemental order for such exportation as it 20
may find necessary or appropriate. 21
‘‘(2) D
EADLINE.—The Secretary of Energy 22
shall find whether proposed exportation of natural 23
gas will be consistent with the public interest under 24
paragraph (1) by not later than the date that is 1 25
year after the later of— 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 381 IH
‘‘(A) the date on which the Secretary of 1
Energy receives the final environmental impact 2
statement for such proposed exportation from 3
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; 4
and 5
‘‘(B) the date on which the Secretary com-6
pletes each assessment required by paragraph 7
(4). 8
‘‘(3) P
UBLIC INTEREST FINDING .—The Sec-9
retary of Energy may find that proposed exportation 10
of natural gas for which an application is submitted 11
under paragraph (1) will be consistent with the pub-12
lic interest under such paragraph only if the Sec-13
retary of Energy determines, based on the applicable 14
assessment under paragraph (4), that the proposed 15
exportation of natural gas will not be likely to— 16
‘‘(A) significantly contribute to climate 17
change, including by slowing the global energy 18
transition needed to achieve deep reductions of 19
global greenhouse gas emissions within the next 20
decade and net-zero global greenhouse gas 21
emissions not later than 2050; 22
‘‘(B) materially increase energy prices or 23
energy price volatility for any segment of 24
United States consumers; or 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 381 IH
‘‘(C) create a disproportionate cumulative 1
burden of adverse human or environmental im-2
pacts on rural, low-income, minority, and other 3
vulnerable communities. 4
‘‘(4) A
SSESSMENTS.— 5
‘‘(A) C
LIMATE CHANGE ASSESSMENT .—A 6
determination under paragraph (3)(A) shall be 7
based on an assessment of the expected impact 8
of the proposed exportation of natural gas on 9
climate change. Such assessment shall be based 10
on the latest scientific information and use the 11
20-year global warming potential of methane, 12
and shall include— 13
‘‘(i) quantified estimates of the green-14
house gas emissions associated with the 15
full lifecycle of the natural gas proposed 16
for exportation, including emissions associ-17
ated with the extraction, transportation, 18
liquefaction, storage, regasification, and 19
consumption of such natural gas; 20
‘‘(ii) a comparison of the estimated 21
greenhouse gas emissions in clause (i) to a 22
baseline that is consistent with United 23
States international commitments to 24
achieve deep reductions of global green-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 381 IH
house gas emissions within the next decade 1
and deep decarbonization pathways toward 2
net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions 3
not later than 2050; 4
‘‘(iii) an assessment of the potential 5
effects of the proposed exportation of nat-6
ural gas on clean energy alternatives, in-7
cluding— 8
‘‘(I) any decrease in global in-9
vestment in and deployment of renew-10
able energy, electrification, and energy 11
efficiency and conservation tech-12
nologies; and 13
‘‘(II) any decrease in United 14
States exports of clean energy tech-15
nologies; 16
‘‘(iv) quantified estimates of the social 17
cost of the estimated greenhouse gas emis-18
sions in clause (i); and 19
‘‘(v) an identification of the extent to 20
which climate change is accelerating the 21
loss of economic value in the United States 22
due to rising sea levels, more intense 23
storms, eroding coasts, increased risk and 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 381 IH
severity of wild fires, and other impacts as-1
sociated with climate change. 2
‘‘(B) E
CONOMIC ASSESSMENT .—A deter-3
mination under paragraph (3)(B) shall be based 4
on an assessment of the expected economic im-5
pact of the proposed exportation of natural gas, 6
including an assessment of the impact of the 7
proposed exportation on all United States con-8
sumers, with specific estimates regarding each 9
of the following consumer subgroups: 10
‘‘(i) Low-income consumers. 11
‘‘(ii) Working families. 12
‘‘(iii) Small businesses. 13
‘‘(iv) Manufacturers. 14
‘‘(v) State and local governments. 15
‘‘(vi) Producers and users of fertilizer. 16
‘‘(C) E
NVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ASSESS -17
MENT.—A determination under paragraph 18
(3)(C) shall be based on an assessment of the 19
expected impact of the proposed exportation of 20
natural gas on environmental justice (which 21
shall be consistent with Executive Order 14096 22
(42 U.S.C. 4321 note; relating to revitalizing 23
our Nation’s commitment to environmental jus-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 381 IH
tice for all), as published April 21, 2023), in-1
cluding assessments of impacts on— 2
‘‘(i) the preexisting cumulative envi-3
ronmental burdens and social and health 4
risks posed to rural, low-income, minority, 5
and other vulnerable communities; 6
‘‘(ii) local fisheries and the economic 7
livelihood of the people employed by local 8
fisheries; 9
‘‘(iii) racial and socioeconomic dispari-10
ties in impacted communities; and 11
‘‘(iv) compliance with civil rights laws. 12
‘‘(5) P
UBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 13
of Energy shall— 14
‘‘(A) provide to the public an opportunity 15
to meaningfully participate, including by pro-16
viding comments, in— 17
‘‘(i) the finding of the Secretary of 18
Energy on whether proposed exportation 19
will be consistent with the public interest 20
under paragraph (1); and 21
‘‘(ii) any study by the Department of 22
Energy intended to inform such finding; 23
and 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 381 IH
‘‘(B) ensure that opportunities to meaning-1
fully participate under subparagraph (A) ad-2
dress barriers that affect members of commu-3
nities with environmental justice concerns, in-4
cluding those related to disability, language ac-5
cess, and lack of resources. 6
‘‘(6) M
AJOR FEDERAL ACTION .—Issuing an 7
order authorizing the exportation of natural gas 8
under this subsection shall be considered a major 9
Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na-10
tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 11
4332(2)(C)).’’. 12
(b) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the 13
Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 14
(1) in subsection (a)— 15
(A) by striking ‘‘export any natural gas 16
from the United States to a foreign country 17
or’’; 18
(B) by inserting ‘‘to the United States’’ 19
after ‘‘from a foreign country’’; and 20
(C) by striking ‘‘exportation or’’; and 21
(2) in subsection (c)— 22
(A) by striking ‘‘, or the exportation of 23
natural gas to a nation with which there is in 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 381 IH
effect a free trade agreement requiring national 1
treatment for trade in natural gas,’’; and 2
(B) by striking ‘‘or exportation’’. 3
SEC. 3. PROCESS COORDINATION; HEARINGS; RULES OF 4
PROCEDURE. 5
Section 15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 6
717n(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and in-7
serting ‘‘Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’’. 8
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR 9
APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF THE EXPOR-10
TATION OF NATURAL GAS. 11
The categorical exclusion under B5.7 of appendix B 12
to subpart D of part 1021 of title 10, Code of Federal 13
Regulations, (relating to export of natural gas and associ-14
ated transportation by marine vessel) shall have no force 15
or effect. 16
SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 17
Not later than one year after the date of enactment 18
of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall issue a rule to 19
carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 20
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H381.IH H381
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB