FASTER Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1804 To amend the Federal Power Act to facilitate more expeditious review and permitting of certain electric transmission facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2023 Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Federal Power Act to facilitate more expedi- tious review and permitting of certain electric trans- mission facilities, 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 ‘‘Facilitating America’s 4 Siting of Transmission and Electric Reliability Act of 5 2023’’ or the ‘‘FASTER Act of 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTEREST ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FA- 7 CILITIES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 9 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended to read as follows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1804 IS ‘‘SEC. 216. SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANS- 1 MISSION FACILITIES. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 4 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 5 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY BENEFIT AGREEMENT.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘community 7 benefit agreement’ means an agreement be- 8 tween CBA parties, including, at a minimum, at 9 least 1 entity described in each of subclauses 10 (I) through (IV) of subparagraph (B)(iii), 11 that— 12 ‘‘(i) relates to a project for the con- 13 struction or modification of a national in- 14 terest electric transmission facility for 15 which a permit is sought under subsection 16 (c); 17 ‘‘(ii) is applicable through the con- 18 struction (or modification) and operation 19 of that national interest electric trans- 20 mission facility; 21 ‘‘(iii) is negotiated through a process 22 that includes meaningful engagement, by 23 the project sponsor, with— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(I) the applicable 1 or more 1 agreement entities that are parties to 2 the agreement; and 3 ‘‘(II) stakeholder groups, includ- 4 ing at least 1 entity described in each 5 of subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara- 6 graph (B)(v); 7 ‘‘(iv) details specific, measurable, and 8 legally enforceable CBA commitments; 9 ‘‘(v) includes a detailed plan, with 10 clear metrics, milestones, and timelines, for 11 accomplishing CBA commitments; 12 ‘‘(vi) establishes specific roles, respon- 13 sibilities, and processes for tracking and 14 reporting progress with respect to CBA 15 commitments; 16 ‘‘(vii) establishes clear enforcement 17 processes to address noncompliance, in- 18 cluding specific penalties for noncompli- 19 ance; and 20 ‘‘(viii) requires the CBA parties to an- 21 nually submit to the Commission a report 22 that describes, in a transparent manner— 23 ‘‘(I) the CBA commitments in- 24 cluded in the agreement; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(II) the progress made with re- 1 spect those CBA commitments. 2 ‘‘(B) ASSOCIATED DEFINITIONS.—For pur- 3 poses of this paragraph: 4 ‘‘(i) AGREEMENT ENTITY.— 5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 6 ‘agreement entity’ means an entity de- 7 scribed in subclause (II) that will be 8 significantly impacted by project de- 9 velopment, construction, or local oper- 10 ations activities relating to the appli- 11 cable project that is the subject of the 12 agreement described in subparagraph 13 (A). 14 ‘‘(II) ENTITY DESCRIBED.—An 15 entity referred to in subclause (I) is— 16 ‘‘(aa) any political subdivi- 17 sion of a State, including a coun- 18 ty and any subdivision of a coun- 19 ty, in which the project will be lo- 20 cated; 21 ‘‘(bb) a Tribal governmental 22 entity of an Indian Tribe that 23 will be affected by the project; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(cc) any other State, Trib- 1 al, or local entity, as the Com- 2 mission or the parties to the ap- 3 plicable agreement determine to 4 be appropriate. 5 ‘‘(ii) CBA COMMITMENT.—The term 6 ‘CBA commitment’ means a commitment, 7 made by the project sponsor and detailed 8 in an agreement described in subparagraph 9 (A), that benefits stakeholder groups. 10 ‘‘(iii) CBA PARTY.—The term ‘CBA 11 party’ includes, at a minimum, each of the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(I) The project sponsor. 14 ‘‘(II) An agreement entity. 15 ‘‘(III) A community group. 16 ‘‘(IV) A labor union or equivalent 17 organization, such as a workforce de- 18 velopment board, representing workers 19 or trades that will be needed for each 20 of the construction and operation (in- 21 cluding, if applicable, production) ac- 22 tivities associated with the project 23 that is the subject of the agreement 24 described in subparagraph (A). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(iv) COMMUNITY GROUP.—The term 1 ‘community group’ means any of the fol- 2 lowing: 3 ‘‘(I) An unincorporated associa- 4 tion composed of— 5 ‘‘(aa) underserved, overbur- 6 dened, or disadvantaged commu- 7 nities and members of those com- 8 munities in the applicable agree- 9 ment entity; or 10 ‘‘(bb) affected landowners or 11 community members in the appli- 12 cable agreement entity. 13 ‘‘(II) A registered organization 14 described in section 501(c)(3) of the 15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 16 exempt from taxation under section 17 501(a) of that Code that has a history 18 of— 19 ‘‘(aa) prior work consistent 20 with the goals established by the 21 applicable agreement described in 22 subparagraph (A); or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(bb) advocating for com- 1 munity members in the applicable 2 agreement entity. 3 ‘‘(v) STAKEHOLDER GROUP.—The 4 term ‘stakeholder group’ means— 5 ‘‘(I) a community group; and 6 ‘‘(II) a CBA party described in 7 clause (iii)(IV). 8 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission 9 shall make all reports submitted to the Com- 10 mission in accordance with subparagraph 11 (A)(viii) publicly available on the website of the 12 Commission. 13 ‘‘(3) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘co- 14 operating agency’ has the meaning given the term in 15 section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions (or a successor regulation). 17 ‘‘(4) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 18 Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council 19 established by section 41002(a) of the FAST Act 20 (42 U.S.C. 4370m–1(a)). 21 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DOCUMENT.— 22 The term ‘environmental review document’ has the 23 meaning given the term ‘environmental document’ in 24 section 41001 of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(6) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal au- 2 thorization’ means any authorization required 3 under Federal law in order to site a national in- 4 terest electric transmission facility. 5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘Federal au- 6 thorization’ includes such permits, special use 7 authorizations, certifications, opinions, or other 8 approvals as may be required under Federal law 9 in order to site a national interest electric 10 transmission facility. 11 ‘‘(7) NATIONAL INTEREST ELECTRIC TRANS- 12 MISSION FACILITY.—The term ‘national interest 13 electric transmission facility’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) an electric transmission facility— 15 ‘‘(i) that is located in a national inter- 16 est electric transmission corridor des- 17 ignated by the Secretary under paragraph 18 (2) or (5) of subsection (b); and 19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to which the Com- 20 mission finds that the proposed construc- 21 tion or modification of the facility— 22 ‘‘(I) is consistent with the public 23 interest; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(II) will significantly reduce 1 transmission congestion in interstate 2 commerce; 3 ‘‘(III) will protect or benefit con- 4 sumers; 5 ‘‘(IV) is consistent with sound 6 national energy policy; 7 ‘‘(V) will enhance energy inde- 8 pendence; and 9 ‘‘(VI) in the case of a modifica- 10 tion, will maximize, to the extent rea- 11 sonable and economical, the trans- 12 mission capabilities of existing towers 13 or structures; or 14 ‘‘(B) an electric transmission facility 15 that— 16 ‘‘(i) has a transmission capacity of 17 not less than— 18 ‘‘(I) 345 kilovolts; or 19 ‘‘(II) 750 megawatts; and 20 ‘‘(ii) is located in not fewer than 2 21 States. 22 ‘‘(8) PARTICIPATING AGENCY.—The term ‘par- 23 ticipating agency’ has the meaning given the term in 24 section 41001 of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(9) PREFILING PROCESS.—The term ‘prefiling 1 process’ means the prefiling process established 2 under subsection (h)(7)(C). 3 ‘‘(10) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘quali- 4 fying project’ means a project— 5 ‘‘(A) for the siting, construction, or modi- 6 fication of a national interest electric trans- 7 mission facility; and 8 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the project 9 sponsor complies with— 10 ‘‘(i) the prefiling regulations described 11 in subsection (h)(7)(C); and 12 ‘‘(ii) all other applicable regulations 13 promulgated by the Commission relating to 14 an application for a permit under sub- 15 section (c). 16 ‘‘(11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 17 means the Secretary of Energy. 18 ‘‘(12) STATE OR LOCAL AUTHORIZATION.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘State or 20 local authorization’ means any authorization re- 21 quired under State or local law in order to site 22 a transmission facility. 23 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘State or 24 local authorization’ includes such permits, spe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1804 IS cial use authorizations, certifications, opinions, 1 or other approvals as may be required under 2 State or local law in order to site a trans- 3 mission facility. 4 ‘‘(b) STUDY, REPORT, AND DESIGNATION OF NA- 5 TIONAL INTEREST ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION COR- 6 RIDORS.— 7 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 8 date of enactment of the FASTER Act of 2023, and 9 every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consulta- 10 tion with affected States and Indian Tribes, shall 11 conduct a study of electric transmission capacity 12 constraints and congestion. 13 ‘‘(2) REPORT AND DESIGNATION.—Not less fre- 14 quently than once every 3 years, the Secretary, after 15 considering alternatives and recommendations from 16 interested parties (including an opportunity for com- 17 ment from affected States and Indian Tribes), shall 18 issue a report, based on the study under paragraph 19 (1) or other information relating to electric trans- 20 mission capacity constraints and congestion, which 21 may designate as a national interest electric trans- 22 mission corridor any geographic area that— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(A) is experiencing electric energy trans- 1 mission capacity constraints or congestion that 2 adversely affects consumers; or 3 ‘‘(B) is expected to experience such energy 4 transmission capacity constraints or congestion. 5 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Not less frequently than 6 once every 3 years, the Secretary, in conducting the 7 study under paragraph (1) and issuing the report 8 under paragraph (2), shall consult with any appro- 9 priate regional entity referred to in section 215. 10 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining wheth- 11 er to designate a national interest electric trans- 12 mission corridor under paragraph (2), the Secretary 13 may consider whether— 14 ‘‘(A) the economic vitality and development 15 of the corridor, or the end markets served by 16 the corridor, may be constrained by lack of ade- 17 quate or reasonably priced electricity; 18 ‘‘(B)(i) economic growth in the corridor, or 19 the end markets served by the corridor, may be 20 jeopardized by reliance on limited sources of en- 21 ergy; and 22 ‘‘(ii) a diversification of supply is war- 23 ranted; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1804 IS ‘‘(C) the energy independence or energy se- 1 curity of the United States would be served by 2 the designation; 3 ‘‘(D) the designation would be in the inter- 4 est of national energy policy; 5 ‘‘(E) the designation would enhance na- 6 tional defense and homeland security; 7 ‘‘(F) the designation would enhance the 8 ability of facilities that generate or transmit 9 firm or intermittent energy to connect to the 10 electric grid; 11 ‘‘(G) the designation— 12 ‘‘(i) maximizes existing rights-of-way; 13 and 14 ‘‘(ii) avoids and minimizes, to the 15 maximum extent practicable, and offsets to 16 the extent appropriate and practicable, 17 sensitive environmental areas and cultural 18 heritage sites; and 19 ‘‘(H) the designation would result in a re- 20 duction in the cost to purchase electric energy 21 for consumers. 22 ‘‘(5) DESIGNATION BY REQUEST.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The developer of a 24 project to construct or modify an electric trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1804.IS S1804 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1804 IS mission facility may submit to the Secretary an 1 application to designate 1 or more proposed 2 routes associated with the project as a national 3 interest electric transmission corridor. 4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A developer de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (A) may submit an ap- 6 plication under that subparagraph only if the 7 developer— 8 ‘‘(i) has begun [Text truncated for display. 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