LNG Now Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2248 To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of natural gas, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 10, 2019 Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of natural gas, 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 ‘‘License Natural Gas 4 Now Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘LNG Now Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2248 IH (1) the exportation of natural gas produced in 1 the United States is in the interest of the United 2 States; and 3 (2) because natural gas produced in the United 4 States has a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile 5 than other energy sources used in high volumes in 6 other countries, the exportation of natural gas from 7 the United States may help lower global emissions of 8 carbon dioxide. 9 SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act 11 (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 12 (1) by striking the section heading and all that 13 follows through ‘‘(a) After’’ and inserting the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL 16 GAS; LNG TERMINALS. 17 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION TO EXPORT OR IMPORT NAT- 18 URAL GAS.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After’’; 20 (2) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)— 22 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 23 ‘‘, unless,’’ and all that follows through the 24 period at the end of the sentence and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2248 IH serting ‘‘without modification or delay.’’; 1 and 2 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 3 ‘‘by its order’’ and all that follows through 4 the period at the end of the sentence and 5 inserting ‘‘condition the order on a require- 6 ment that the applicant, on request, pro- 7 vide relevant data to the Commission to fa- 8 cilitate the information collection and sta- 9 tistical activities of the Commission.’’; and 10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO LIMIT EXPORTATION OF 12 NATURAL GAS.— 13 ‘‘(A) MAJOR DISASTER OR EMERGENCY IN 14 UNITED STATES.—If the President declares a 15 major disaster or emergency under the Robert 16 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As- 17 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the 18 President may limit the volume of natural gas 19 exported from the United States during the 90- 20 day period beginning on the date on which the 21 President declares the major disaster or emer- 22 gency. 23 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL EMERGENCY UNDER 24 INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2248 IH ERS ACT.—If the President declares a national 1 emergency under section 202 of the Inter- 2 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 3 U.S.C. 1701) with respect to a country, the 4 President may limit the volume of natural gas 5 exported from the United States to that coun- 6 try. 7 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS.— 8 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTING NAT- 9 URAL GAS IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION.— 10 Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2) 11 or in any Federal authorization to export nat- 12 ural gas from the United States to a foreign 13 country or to import natural gas into the 14 United States from a foreign country in effect 15 on the date of enactment of the LNG Now Act 16 of 2019, to promote the efficient exploration, 17 production, storage, supply, marketing, pricing, 18 and regulation of energy resources, including 19 fossil fuels, no employee of the Federal Govern- 20 ment shall impose or enforce any restriction or 21 condition on— 22 ‘‘(i) the exportation of natural gas 23 from the United States to a foreign coun- 24 try; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2248 IH ‘‘(ii) the importation of natural gas 1 into the United States from a foreign 2 country. 3 ‘‘(B) SECRETARY OF ENERGY PROHIBI- 4 TION.—The Secretary of Energy shall not treat, 5 on the basis of national origin, any imported 6 natural gas on an unjust, unreasonable, unduly 7 discriminatory, or preferential basis. 8 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF IMPORTED NATURAL 9 GAS AS A FIRST SALE.—The importation of natural 10 gas into the United States from a foreign country 11 shall be considered to be a first sale (as defined in 12 section 2 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (15 13 U.S.C. 3301)).’’; 14 (3) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and 15 (4) by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) 16 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 17 (b) EFFECT.—The amendments made by subsection 18 (a) shall not affect any Federal authorization to export 19 natural gas from the United States to a foreign country 20 or to import natural gas into the United States from a 21 foreign country in effect on the date of enactment of the 22 LNG Now Act of 2019. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2248 IH SEC. 4. REPORT ON FOSTERING NATURAL GAS EXPORTS. 1 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 2 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 3 to Congress a report describing actions taken by the 4 United States Government, and actions that could be 5 taken by the United States Government, to foster the ex- 6 portation of natural gas from the United States to foreign 7 countries. 8 SEC. 5. REPORT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS. 9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 11 to Congress a report that identifies regulations in effect 12 as of such date of enactment that inhibit the growth of 13 the market for natural gas exported from the United 14 States. 15 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or an amend- 17 ment made by this Act shall be construed to limit the au- 18 thority of the President under— 19 (1) the Constitution of the United States; 20 (2) the International Emergency Economic 21 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or regulations 22 issued under that Act; 23 (3) the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 24 1601 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2248 IH (4) the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 1 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.); or 2 (5) any other provision of law that imposes 3 sanctions with respect to a foreign person or foreign 4 government (including any provision of law that pro- 5 hibits or restricts a United States person from en- 6 gaging in a transaction with a sanctioned person or 7 government), including a foreign government that is 8 designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. 9 (b) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DEFINED.—In 10 this section, the term ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ means 11 a country the government of which the Secretary of State 12 has determined to be a government that has repeatedly 13 provided support for acts of international terrorism for 14 purposes of— 15 (1) section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export Administra- 16 tion Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4605(j)(1)(A)) (as con- 17 tinued in effect pursuant to the International Emer- 18 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 19 seq.)); 20 (2) section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance 21 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a)); 22 (3) section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control 23 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2248 IH (4) any other provision of law. 1 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS