Energy Freedom Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 879 To provide greater output, price stability, and regulatory certainty with re- spect to domestic energy production in the United States and exports, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 21, 2023 Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To provide greater output, price stability, and regulatory certainty with respect to domestic energy production in the United States and exports, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Energy Freedom Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 879 IS TITLE I—ACCELERATING ENERGY APPROVALS TO REDUCE BOTTLENECKS Sec. 101. Findings. Sec. 102. Review and approval of certain natural gas transmission projects. Sec. 103. Expedited approval for certain natural gas interstate pipelines. Sec. 104. Natural gas exports. Sec. 105. Pending applications to export natural gas. Sec. 106. Domestic environmental impacts. Sec. 107. No Presidential permit required. TITLE II—UTILIZING AMERICA’S ONSHORE RESOURCES Sec. 201. Finding. Sec. 202. Annual oil and natural gas lease sales. Sec. 203. Permit to drill application timeline. Sec. 204. Congressional authority requirement. Sec. 205. Prohibition on moratoria of new energy leases on certain Federal land and on withdrawal of Federal land from energy development. TITLE III—OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING Sec. 301. Finding. Sec. 302. Offshore lease sales. TITLE IV—ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Sec. 401. Geothermal, solar, and wind leasing priority areas. Sec. 402. Geothermal production on Federal lands. Sec. 403. Hardrock mineral licensing. TITLE V—STOPPING EXECUTIVE OVERREACH Sec. 501. Finding. Sec. 502. Navigable Waters Protection Rule. Sec. 503. Methane rule. Sec. 504. ONRR 2020 Valuation Reform and Civil Penalty Rule. Sec. 505. NEPA rule. Sec. 506. Nationwide permit 12. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 2 retary of the Interior. 3 TITLE I—ACCELERATING EN- 4 ERGY APPROVALS TO RE- 5 DUCE BOTTLENECKS 6 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 879 IS (1) natural gas is a safe and abundant resource 1 and is proven to be environmentally responsible; and 2 (2) increasing the safe transmission of natural 3 gas will lead to more reliable, abundant, and cleaner 4 domestic supplies of energy that will contribute to 5 job growth and economic development. 6 SEC. 102. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF CERTAIN NATURAL 7 GAS TRANSMISSION PROJECTS. 8 (a) FERC APPROVALS.—Section 7(e) of the Natural 9 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(e)) is amended— 10 (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘The 11 Commission’’ and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Commis- 13 sion’’; 14 (2) by striking ‘‘(e) Except’’ and inserting the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION PROCEDURE.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; and 18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so des- 19 ignated) the following: 20 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR PROCESSING APPLICA- 21 TIONS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 23 after the date on which the Commission receives 24 an application for a certificate of public conven- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 879 IS ience and necessity under subsection (c), the 1 Commission shall— 2 ‘‘(i) complete all required consulta- 3 tions with other Federal agencies; 4 ‘‘(ii) review the application in accord- 5 ance with the requirements of this section; 6 and 7 ‘‘(iii) issue the certificate or deny the 8 application. 9 ‘‘(B) REASONS FOR DENIAL.—If the Com- 10 mission denies an application under subpara- 11 graph (A)(iii), the Commission shall state the 12 reasons for the denial.’’. 13 (b) CORPS OF ENGINEERS APPROVALS.— 14 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED AUTHORIZA- 15 TION.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘covered author- 16 ization’’ means an authorization or approval re- 17 quired under Federal law from the Secretary of the 18 Army for any natural gas transmission project, in- 19 cluding an authorization— 20 (A) under section 404 of the Federal 21 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); 22 (B) under section 10 of the Act of March 23 3, 1899 (commonly known as the ‘‘Rivers and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 879 IS Harbors Act of 1899’’) (30 Stat. 1151, chapter 1 425; 33 U.S.C. 403); 2 (C) for an easement under section 28 of 3 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185); 4 (D) for permission under section 14 of the 5 Act of March 3, 1899 (commonly known as the 6 ‘‘Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899’’) (30 Stat. 7 1152, chapter 425; 33 U.S.C. 408); 8 (E) under the National Environmental 9 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 10 and 11 (F) under any other applicable Federal 12 law. 13 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the 14 Army shall— 15 (A) approve or deny an application or re- 16 quest for a covered authorization, including the 17 completion of any required consultations with 18 other Federal agencies, by not later than 1 year 19 after the date on which the application or re- 20 quest is submitted; and 21 (B) if the application or request for a cov- 22 ered authorization is denied, provide to the ap- 23 plicant or requester the reasons for the denial. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 879 IS SEC. 103. EXPEDITED APPROVAL FOR CERTAIN NATURAL 1 GAS INTERSTATE PIPELINES. 2 Section 7(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 3 717f(c)(1)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 5 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘or 6 operations: Provided, however, That if any 7 such’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘or oper- 8 ations. 9 ‘‘(ii) PRIOR OPERATIONS.—If any 10 such’’; and 11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(iii) PROJECTS THAT MEET SAFETY 13 REGULATIONS.—With respect to any appli- 14 cation for a certificate of public conven- 15 ience and necessity under clause (i) for 16 which the Commission determines that the 17 project covered by the application meets all 18 safety regulations in effect as of the date 19 of the application, the Commission shall 20 issue the certificate without requiring fur- 21 ther proof that public convenience and ne- 22 cessity will be served by the project, and 23 without further proceedings.’’; 24 (2) by striking ‘‘(c)(1)(A) No natural-gas com- 25 pany’’ and inserting the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 879 IS ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND 1 NECESSITY.— 2 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO APPLY FOR CER- 4 TIFICATE.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No natural-gas 6 company’’; and 7 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) In all 8 other cases the Commission’’ and inserting the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(B) HEARINGS.—In all cases other than 11 the cases described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of 12 subparagraph (A), the Commission’’. 13 SEC. 104. NATURAL GAS EXPORTS. 14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 15 (1) increasing clean and safe natural gas ex- 16 ports will lead to increased investment and develop- 17 ment of domestic supplies of natural gas that will 18 contribute to job growth and economic development; 19 and 20 (2) the export of clean and safe natural gas to 21 other nations is of vital national interest to the 22 United States. 23 (b) NATURAL GAS EXPORTS.—Section 3(c) of the 24 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 879 IS (1) by inserting ‘‘or any other nation not ex- 1 cluded by this section’’ after ‘‘trade in natural gas’’; 2 (2) by inserting ‘‘and in any event by not later 3 than 60 days after the date on which the application 4 is received’’ before the period at the end; 5 (3) by striking ‘‘(c) For purposes’’ and insert- 6 ing the following: 7 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED APPLICATION AND APPROVAL 8 PROCESS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 10 (4) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any nation subject to 13 sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the 14 United States is excluded from expedited ap- 15 proval under paragraph (1). 16 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION BY PRESIDENT OR 17 CONGRESS.—The President or Congress may 18 designate nations that may be excluded from 19 expedited approval under paragraph (1) for rea- 20 sons of national security. 21 ‘‘(3) ORDER NOT REQUIRED.—No order is re- 22 quired under subsection (a) to authorize the export 23 or import of any natural gas to or from Canada or 24 Mexico.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 879 IS SEC. 105. PENDING APPLICATIONS TO EXPORT NATURAL 1 GAS. 2 All applications to export natural gas from the United 3 States to a foreign country submitted under section 3(a) 4 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(a)) during the 5 period beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on Jan- 6 uary 1, 2025, are deemed approved. 7 SEC. 106. DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(2) of the National 9 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) 10 is amended— 11 (1) in subparagraph (C)— 12 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 13 inserting ‘‘in the United States’’ after ‘‘human 14 environment’’; 15 (B) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘in the 16 United States’’ after ‘‘proposed action’’; and 17 (C) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘in the 18 United States’’ after ‘‘environmental effects’’; 19 and 20 (2) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘in any 21 proposal or other major Federal action that involves 22 the funding or development of projects outside the 23 United States or the exclusive economic zone of the 24 United States,’’ before ‘‘recognize’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 879 IS (b) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Council 2 on Environmental Quality shall revise the implementing 3 regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act of 4 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) under subchapter A of 5 chapter V of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 6 cessor regulations), in accordance with the amendments 7 made by subsection (a). 8 SEC. 107. NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED. 9 No Presidential permit (or similar permit) required 10 under section 301 of title 3, United States Code, Execu- 11 tive Order 12038 (42 U.S.C. 7151 note; relating to trans- 12 fer of certain functions to the Secretary of Energy), Exec- 13 utive Order 10485 (15 U.S.C. 717b note; relating to pro- 14 viding for the performance of certain functions heretofore 15 performed by the President with respect to electric power 16 and natural gas facilities located on the borders of the 17 United States), or any other Executive order shall be nec- 18 essary for the construction, connection, operation, or 19 maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 20 transmission facility, or any cross-border segment thereof. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 879 IS TITLE II—UTILIZING AMERICA’S 1 ONSHORE RESOURCES 2 SEC. 201. FINDING. 3 Congress finds that regular and predictable leasing 4 and permitting on Federal land is important to domestic 5 energy production, which leads to robust competition and 6 lower energy prices. 7 SEC. 202. ANNUAL OIL AND NATURAL GAS LEASE SALES. 8 (a) ANNUAL LEASE SALES.—Notwithstanding any 9 other provision of law, in accordance with the Mineral 10 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), beginning in fiscal 11 year 2024, the Secretary shall conduct a minimum of 4 12 oil and natural gas lease sales annually in each of the fol- 13 lowing States: 14 (1) Wyoming. 15 (2) New Mexico. 16 (3) Colorado. 17 (4) Utah. 18 (5) Montana. 19 (6) North Dakota. 20 (7) Oklahoma. 21 (8) Nevada. 22 (9) Alaska. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 879 IS (10) Any other State in which there is land 1 available for oil and natural gas leasing under that 2 Act. 3 (b) REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale under 4 subsection (a) in a State described in that subsection, the 5 Secretary shall offer all parcels eligible for oil and gas de- 6 velopment under the resource management plan in effect 7 for the State. 8 (c) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If, for any reason, a 9 lease sale under subsection (a) for a calendar year is can- 10 celed, delayed, or deferred, including for a lack of eligible 11 parcels, the Secretary shall conduct a replacement sale 12 during the same calendar year. 13 SEC. 203. PERMIT TO DRILL APPLICATION TIMELINE. 14 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 15 226(p)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and insert- 16 ing the following: 17 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL RE- 18 FORM AND PROCESS.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 20 end of the 30-day period beginning on the date 21 an application for a permit to drill is received 22 by the Secretary, the Secretary shall decide 23 whether to issue the permit. 24 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S879.IS S879 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 879 IS ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 1 may extend the period described in sub- 2 paragraph (A) for up to 2 periods of 15 3 days each, if the Secretary has given writ- 4 ten notice of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]