Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 575 To establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. MULLIN (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. MCKIN- LEY, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. BURGESS, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. HILL, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. GOODEN of Texas, Mr. COLE, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. GIBBS, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. FALLON, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. MANN, Mr. GUEST, Mr. BABIN, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. LATTA, Mr. HERN, Mr. STEWART, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. PERRY, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, and Mr. KELLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern proc- ess to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facili- ties for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 575 IH 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 ‘‘Promoting Cross-bor- 4 der Energy Infrastructure Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY SECU- 6 RITY. 7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA- 8 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT AN INTERNATIONAL BOUND- 9 ARY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 10 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in 11 paragraph (3) and subsection (e), no person may 12 construct, connect, operate, or maintain a border- 13 crossing facility for the import or export of oil or 14 natural gas, or the transmission of electricity, across 15 an international border of the United States without 16 obtaining a certificate of crossing for the border- 17 crossing facility under this subsection. 18 (2) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 19 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 20 days after final action is taken, by the relevant 21 official or agency identified under subparagraph 22 (B), under the National Environmental Policy 23 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re- 24 spect to a border-crossing facility for which a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 575 IH person requests a certificate of crossing under 1 this subsection, the relevant official or agency, 2 in consultation with appropriate Federal agen- 3 cies, shall issue a certificate of crossing for the 4 border-crossing facility unless the relevant offi- 5 cial or agency finds that the construction, con- 6 nection, operation, or maintenance of the bor- 7 der-crossing facility is not in the public interest 8 of the United States. 9 (B) RELEVANT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY.— 10 The relevant official or agency referred to in 11 subparagraph (A) is— 12 (i) the Federal Energy Regulatory 13 Commission with respect to border-cross- 14 ing facilities consisting of oil or natural 15 gas pipelines; and 16 (ii) the Secretary of Energy with re- 17 spect to border-crossing facilities consisting 18 of electric transmission facilities. 19 (C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR 20 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the 21 case of a request for a certificate of crossing for 22 a border-crossing facility consisting of an elec- 23 tric transmission facility, the Secretary of En- 24 ergy shall require, as a condition of issuing the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 575 IH certificate of crossing under subparagraph (A), 1 that the border-crossing facility be constructed, 2 connected, operated, or maintained consistent 3 with all applicable policies and standards of— 4 (i) the Electric Reliability Organiza- 5 tion and the applicable regional entity; and 6 (ii) any Regional Transmission Orga- 7 nization or Independent System Operator 8 with operational or functional control over 9 the border-crossing facility. 10 (3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 11 apply to any construction, connection, operation, or 12 maintenance of a border-crossing facility for the im- 13 port or export of oil or natural gas, or the trans- 14 mission of electricity— 15 (A) if the border-crossing facility is oper- 16 ating for such import, export, or transmission 17 as of the date of enactment of this Act; 18 (B) if a permit described in subsection (d) 19 for the construction, connection, operation, or 20 maintenance has been issued; or 21 (C) if an application for a permit described 22 in subsection (d) for the construction, connec- 23 tion, operation, or maintenance is pending on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 575 IH the date of enactment of this Act, until the ear- 1 lier of— 2 (i) the date on which such application 3 is denied; or 4 (ii) two years after the date of enact- 5 ment of this Act, if such a permit has not 6 been issued by such date of enactment. 7 (4) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 8 (A) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing 9 in this subsection or subsection (e) shall affect 10 the application of any other Federal statute to 11 a project for which a certificate of crossing for 12 a border-crossing facility is requested under 13 this subsection. 14 (B) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this 15 subsection or subsection (e) shall affect the re- 16 quirement to obtain approval or authorization 17 under sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act 18 for the siting, construction, or operation of any 19 facility to import or export natural gas. 20 (C) OIL PIPELINES.—Nothing in this sub- 21 section or subsection (e) shall affect the author- 22 ity of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- 23 sion with respect to oil pipelines under section 24 60502 of title 49, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 575 IH (b) IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION OF NATURAL 1 GAS TO CANADA AND MEXICO.—Section 3(c) of the Nat- 2 ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of an application 4 for the importation of natural gas from, or the exportation 5 of natural gas to, Canada or Mexico, the Commission shall 6 grant the application not later than 30 days after the date 7 on which the Commission receives the complete applica- 8 tion.’’. 9 (c) TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CAN- 10 ADA AND MEXICO.— 11 (1) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE 12 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 13 (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 15 (A) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) 16 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) 17 is amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State 18 regulation does not conflict with the exercise of 19 the Commission’s powers under or relating to 20 subsection 202(e)’’. 21 (B) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY 22 EXCHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Util- 23 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 24 824a–4(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 575 IH mission has conducted hearings and made the 1 findings required under section 202(e) of the 2 Federal Power Act’’ and all that follows 3 through the period at the end and inserting 4 ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 5 finds that the proposed transmission facilities 6 would not impair the sufficiency of electric sup- 7 ply within the United States or would not im- 8 pede or tend to impede the coordination in the 9 public interest of facilities subject to the juris- 10 diction of the Secretary.’’. 11 (d) NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED.—No 12 Presidential permit (or similar permit) required under Ex- 13 ecutive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive 14 Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 301 of title 15 3, United States Code, Executive Order No. 12038, Exec- 16 utive Order No. 10485, or any other Executive order shall 17 be necessary for the construction, connection, operation, 18 or maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 19 transmission facility, or any border-crossing facility there- 20 of. 21 (e) MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS.—No 22 certificate of crossing under subsection (a), or permit de- 23 scribed in subsection (d), shall be required for a modifica- 24 tion to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 575 IH (1) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 1 transmission facility that is operating for the import 2 or export of oil or natural gas or the transmission 3 of electricity as of the date of enactment of this Act; 4 (2) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 5 transmission facility for which a permit described in 6 subsection (d) has been issued; or 7 (3) a border-crossing facility for which a certifi- 8 cate of crossing has previously been issued under 9 subsection (a). 10 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES.— 11 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) 12 through (e), and the amendments made by such sub- 13 sections, shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 14 after the date of enactment of this Act. 15 (2) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant 16 official or agency described in subsection (a)(2)(B) 17 shall— 18 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 19 of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 20 Register notice of a proposed rulemaking to 21 carry out the applicable requirements of sub- 22 section (a); and 23 (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 24 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 575 IH Register a final rule to carry out the applicable 1 requirements of subsection (a). 2 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 3 (1) the term ‘‘border-crossing facility’’ means 4 the portion of an oil or natural gas pipeline or elec- 5 tric transmission facility that is located at an inter- 6 national boundary of the United States; 7 (2) the term ‘‘modification’’ includes a reversal 8 of flow direction, change in ownership, change in 9 flow volume, addition or removal of an interconnec- 10 tion, or an adjustment to maintain flow (such as a 11 reduction or increase in the number of pump or 12 compressor stations); 13 (3) the term ‘‘natural gas’’ has the meaning 14 given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act 15 (15 U.S.C. 717a); 16 (4) the term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or a petro- 17 leum product; 18 (5) the terms ‘‘Electric Reliability Organiza- 19 tion’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the meanings given 20 those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act 21 (16 U.S.C. 824o); and 22 (6) the terms ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ 23 and ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ have the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 575 IH meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Fed- 1 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H575.IH H575 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS