Pipeline Fairness and Transparency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 173 To amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and transparency in consideration of interstate natural gas pipelines, to provide for greater public input opportunities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. GRIFFITH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and trans- parency in consideration of interstate natural gas pipe- lines, to provide for greater public input opportunities, 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 ‘‘Pipeline Fairness and 4 Transparency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EMINENT DOMAIN. 6 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 7 United States to protect the rights of citizens of the 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 173 IH United States to their private property, including by lim- 1 iting the taking of private property by the Federal Govern- 2 ment to situations in which the taking is for public use, 3 with just compensation, and to benefit the general public, 4 and not merely to advance the economic interests of pri- 5 vate parties that would be given ownership or use of the 6 property taken. 7 (b) JUST COMPENSATION.—Section 7(h) of the Nat- 8 ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(h)) is amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘(h) When any holder’’ and in- 10 serting the following: 11 ‘‘(h) EMINENT DOMAIN.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—When any holder’’; 13 (2) in the second sentence— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘The practice’’ and insert- 15 ing the following: 16 ‘‘(2) PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 18 graph (B), the practice’’; 19 (B) by striking ‘‘is situated:’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘is situated.’’; and 21 (C) by striking ‘‘Provided, That the’’ and 22 inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(3) JUST COMPENSATION.—In determining the 1 just compensation for property acquired by the exer- 2 cise of the right of eminent domain under paragraph 3 (1), in the case of land subject to a conservation 4 easement, the court with jurisdiction over the pro- 5 ceeding shall consider the lost conservation value of 6 that land.’’. 7 SEC. 3. PROCESS COORDINATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL 8 REVIEW. 9 Section 15 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717n) 10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(g) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR INTERSTATE 12 NATURAL GAS PIPELINES.— 13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 14 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal 16 authorization’ means any authorization re- 17 quired under Federal law with respect to 18 an application for a certificate of public 19 convenience and necessity under section 7. 20 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘Federal 21 authorization’ includes any permits, special 22 use authorizations, certifications, opinions, 23 or other approvals as may be required 24 under Federal law with respect to an appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 173 IH cation for a certificate of public conven- 1 ience and necessity under section 7. 2 ‘‘(B) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means 3 a project for the construction or extension of fa- 4 cilities for the transportation in interstate com- 5 merce of natural gas that requires Federal au- 6 thorization. 7 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 8 STATEMENTS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an ap- 10 plication for Federal authorization, the Com- 11 mission shall prepare a supplement to a draft 12 environmental impact statement or a final envi- 13 ronmental impact statement if— 14 ‘‘(i) the Commission makes a substan- 15 tial change in the proposed action that is 16 relevant to environmental concerns; or 17 ‘‘(ii) there are significant new cir- 18 cumstances or information relevant to envi- 19 ronmental concerns and bearing on the 20 proposed action or its impacts. 21 ‘‘(B) MITIGATION PLANS.—If a draft envi- 22 ronmental impact statement prepared with re- 23 spect to an application for Federal authoriza- 24 tion does not include information about mitiga- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 173 IH tion plans for adverse impacts that cannot rea- 1 sonably be avoided, a supplemental environ- 2 mental impact statement shall be prepared that 3 includes such information. 4 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC MEETING REQUIREMENTS.—In 5 complying with the National Environmental Policy 6 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect 7 to an application for Federal authorization, the 8 Commission shall ensure that any public meeting 9 shall be held— 10 ‘‘(A) in each county or equivalent subdivi- 11 sion in which the project will be located; and 12 ‘‘(B) during each period of public comment 13 following, if applicable, publication of— 14 ‘‘(i) a draft environmental impact 15 statement; 16 ‘‘(ii) a final environmental impact 17 statement; and 18 ‘‘(iii) any supplemental environmental 19 impact statement.’’. 20 SEC. 4. IMPACTS ON CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCES. 21 Subsection (g) of section 15 of the Natural Gas Act 22 (15 U.S.C. 717n) (as added by section 3) is amended by 23 adding at the end the following: 24 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAILS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In preparing an envi- 1 ronmental impact statement with respect to an 2 application for Federal authorization for a 3 project, any evaluation of the visual impacts of 4 the project on a national scenic trail designated 5 by the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 6 1241 et seq.) in the environmental impact 7 statement shall— 8 ‘‘(i) consider the cumulative visual im- 9 pacts of any similar proposed project— 10 ‘‘(I) for which an application for 11 Federal authorization is in the pre-fil- 12 ing or filing stage; and 13 ‘‘(II) that impacts the same na- 14 tional scenic trail within 100 miles of 15 the first project; and 16 ‘‘(ii) include visual impact simulations 17 depicting leaf-on and leaf-off views at each 18 location where major visual impacts occur, 19 as identified, authenticated, and justified 20 during the period of public comment pre- 21 ceding the publication of a draft environ- 22 mental impact statement by the head of 23 the Federal agency or independent agency 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 173 IH administering the land at the applicable lo- 1 cation. 2 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT 3 PLANS.—No amendment to a National Forest 4 management plan under the Forest and Range- 5 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 6 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) shall be consid- 7 ered, pursuant to an application for Federal au- 8 thorization, if the result of the amendment 9 would substantially interfere with the nature 10 and purposes of a national scenic trail des- 11 ignated by the National Trails System Act (16 12 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.).’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS