What This Bill Does
This bill changes how the federal government reviews applications to build facilities that send natural gas out of the United States or bring it in from other countries. The bill removes certain restrictions on these import and export activities. The bill also preserves the President's power to limit these activities during emergencies or when dealing with countries that support terrorism.
Who It Affects
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the government agency that approves these projects), companies that want to build natural gas export or import facilities, and the President of the United States.
Key Provisions
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the sole authority to approve or reject applications for building, expanding or operating facilities that export natural gas to other countries or import it from other countries, including liquefied natural gas terminals (Sec. 2)
- The bill does not change other federal laws that apply to natural gas import and export facilities (Sec. 2)
- The President keeps the power to prohibit natural gas imports and exports under emergency laws, sanctions laws and other existing federal authorities (Sec. 2)
- Countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism are defined based on determinations made by the Secretary of State under four specific federal laws (Sec. 2)
What Changes
The bill removes previous restrictions on natural gas exports and imports by changing the Natural Gas Act. It removes subsections (a) through (c) of Section 3 and reorganizes the remaining sections. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission now has clear exclusive authority over these approval decisions.
Important Definitions
State sponsor of terrorism: A country whose government the Secretary of State has determined repeatedly supported international terrorism under specific federal laws.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 647
To repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 31, 2023
Mr. JOHNSON of 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-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unlocking our Domes-
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tic LNG Potential Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.
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Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b)
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is amended—
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(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c);
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(2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as
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subsections (a) and (b), respectively;
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•HR 647 IH
(3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
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section (c), and moving such subsection after sub-
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section (b), as so redesignated;
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(4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by
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amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘(1) The
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Commission shall have the exclusive authority to ap-
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prove or deny an application for the siting, construc-
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tion, expansion, or operation of a facility to export
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natural gas from the United States to a foreign
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country or import natural gas from a foreign coun-
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try, including an LNG terminal. Except as specifi-
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cally provided in this Act, nothing in this Act is in-
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tended to affect otherwise applicable law related to
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any Federal agency’s authorities or responsibilities
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related to facilities to import or export natural gas,
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including LNG terminals.’’; and
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(5) by adding at the end the following new sub-
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section:
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‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of
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the President under the Constitution, the International
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Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et
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seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et
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seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva-
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tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the
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Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi-
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sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or
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foreign government (including any provision of law that
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prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging
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in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government),
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including a country that is designated as a state sponsor
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of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports.
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‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter-
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rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec-
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retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup-
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port for international terrorism pursuant to—
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‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con-
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trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A));
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‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance
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Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
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‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act
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(22 U.S.C. 2780); or
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‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’.
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Æ
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