Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7429 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 JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. MULLIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee 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 consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction 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. 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7429 IH SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY SECU- 1 RITY. 2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA- 3 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT AN INTERNATIONAL BOUND- 4 ARY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 5 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in 6 paragraph (3) and subsection (e), no person may 7 construct, connect, operate, or maintain a border- 8 crossing facility for the import or export of oil or 9 natural gas, or the transmission of electricity, across 10 an international border of the United States without 11 obtaining a certificate of crossing for the border- 12 crossing facility under this subsection. 13 (2) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 14 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 15 days after final action is taken, by the relevant 16 official or agency identified under subparagraph 17 (B), under the National Environmental Policy 18 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re- 19 spect to a border-crossing facility for which a 20 person requests a certificate of crossing under 21 this subsection, the relevant official or agency, 22 in consultation with appropriate Federal agen- 23 cies, shall issue a certificate of crossing for the 24 border-crossing facility unless the relevant offi- 25 cial or agency finds that the construction, con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7429 IH nection, operation, or maintenance of the bor- 1 der-crossing facility is not in the public interest 2 of the United States. 3 (B) RELEVANT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY.— 4 The relevant official or agency referred to in 5 subparagraph (A) is— 6 (i) the Federal Energy Regulatory 7 Commission with respect to border-cross- 8 ing facilities consisting of oil or natural 9 gas pipelines; and 10 (ii) the Secretary of Energy with re- 11 spect to border-crossing facilities consisting 12 of electric transmission facilities. 13 (C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR 14 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the 15 case of a request for a certificate of crossing for 16 a border-crossing facility consisting of an elec- 17 tric transmission facility, the Secretary of En- 18 ergy shall require, as a condition of issuing the 19 certificate of crossing under subparagraph (A), 20 that the border-crossing facility be constructed, 21 connected, operated, or maintained consistent 22 with all applicable policies and standards of— 23 (i) the Electric Reliability Organiza- 24 tion and the applicable regional entity; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7429 IH (ii) any Regional Transmission Orga- 1 nization or Independent System Operator 2 with operational or functional control over 3 the border-crossing facility. 4 (3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 5 apply to any construction, connection, operation, or 6 maintenance of a border-crossing facility for the im- 7 port or export of oil or natural gas, or the trans- 8 mission of electricity— 9 (A) if the border-crossing facility is oper- 10 ating for such import, export, or transmission 11 as of the date of enactment of this Act; 12 (B) if a permit described in subsection (d) 13 for the construction, connection, operation, or 14 maintenance has been issued; or 15 (C) if an application for a permit described 16 in subsection (d) for the construction, connec- 17 tion, operation, or maintenance is pending on 18 the date of enactment of this Act, until the ear- 19 lier of— 20 (i) the date on which such application 21 is denied; or 22 (ii) two years after the date of enact- 23 ment of this Act, if such a permit has not 24 been issued by such date of enactment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7429 IH (4) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 1 (A) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing 2 in this subsection or subsection (e) shall affect 3 the application of any other Federal statute to 4 a project for which a certificate of crossing for 5 a border-crossing facility is requested under 6 this subsection. 7 (B) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this 8 subsection or subsection (e) shall affect the re- 9 quirement to obtain approval or authorization 10 under sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act 11 for the siting, construction, or operation of any 12 facility to import or export natural gas. 13 (C) OIL PIPELINES.—Nothing in this sub- 14 section or subsection (e) shall affect the author- 15 ity of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- 16 sion with respect to oil pipelines under section 17 60502 of title 49, United States Code. 18 (b) IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION OF NATURAL 19 GAS TO CANADA AND MEXICO.—Section 3(c) of the Nat- 20 ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended by adding 21 at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of an application 22 for the importation of natural gas from, or the exportation 23 of natural gas to, Canada or Mexico, the Commission shall 24 grant the application not later than 30 days after the date 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7429 IH on which the Commission receives the complete applica- 1 tion.’’. 2 (c) TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CAN- 3 ADA AND MEXICO.— 4 (1) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE 5 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 6 (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 8 (A) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) 9 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) 10 is amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State 11 regulation does not conflict with the exercise of 12 the Commission’s powers under or relating to 13 subsection 202(e)’’. 14 (B) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY 15 EXCHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Util- 16 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 17 824a–4(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Com- 18 mission has conducted hearings and made the 19 findings required under section 202(e) of the 20 Federal Power Act’’ and all that follows 21 through the period at the end and inserting 22 ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 23 finds that the proposed transmission facilities 24 would not impair the sufficiency of electric sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7429 IH ply within the United States or would not im- 1 pede or tend to impede the coordination in the 2 public interest of facilities subject to the juris- 3 diction of the Secretary.’’. 4 (d) NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED.—No 5 Presidential permit (or similar permit) required under Ex- 6 ecutive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive 7 Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 301 of title 8 3, United States Code, Executive Order No. 12038, Exec- 9 utive Order No. 10485, or any other Executive order shall 10 be necessary for the construction, connection, operation, 11 or maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 12 transmission facility, or any border-crossing facility there- 13 of. 14 (e) MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS.—No 15 certificate of crossing under subsection (a), or permit de- 16 scribed in subsection (d), shall be required for a modifica- 17 tion to— 18 (1) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 19 transmission facility that is operating for the import 20 or export of oil or natural gas or the transmission 21 of electricity as of the date of enactment of this Act; 22 (2) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 23 transmission facility for which a permit described in 24 subsection (d) has been issued; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7429 IH (3) a border-crossing facility for which a certifi- 1 cate of crossing has previously been issued under 2 subsection (a). 3 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES.— 4 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) 5 through (e), and the amendments made by such sub- 6 sections, shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 7 after the date of enactment of this Act. 8 (2) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant 9 official or agency described in subsection (a)(2)(B) 10 shall— 11 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 12 of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 13 Register notice of a proposed rulemaking to 14 carry out the applicable requirements of sub- 15 section (a); and 16 (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 17 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 18 Register a final rule to carry out the applicable 19 requirements of subsection (a). 20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 21 (1) the term ‘‘border-crossing facility’’ means 22 the portion of an oil or natural gas pipeline or elec- 23 tric transmission facility that is located at an inter- 24 national boundary of the United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7429 IH (2) the term ‘‘modification’’ includes a reversal 1 of flow direction, change in ownership, change in 2 flow volume, addition or removal of an interconnec- 3 tion, or an adjustment to maintain flow (such as a 4 reduction or increase in the number of pump or 5 compressor stations); 6 (3) the term ‘‘natural gas’’ has the meaning 7 given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act 8 (15 U.S.C. 717a); 9 (4) the term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or a petro- 10 leum product; 11 (5) the terms ‘‘Electric Reliability Organiza- 12 tion’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the meanings given 13 those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act 14 (16 U.S.C. 824o); and 15 (6) the terms ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ 16 and ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ have the 17 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Fed- 18 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7429.IH H7429 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS