I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3537 

To require the Secretary of State to act on a permit for the Keystone 

XL pipeline. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2011 

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Energy and Commerce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to act on a permit for 

the Keystone XL pipeline. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North American En5 ergy Security Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) United States overdependence on oil im2 ports from hostile or unstable regions damages 

3 United States national security, endangers the econ4 omy of the United States, puts the lives of military 

5 and civilian personnel at risk, and ensures that ac6 cess to oil imports comes at tremendous taxpayer ex7 pense; 

8 (2) the United States imports more than half of 

9 the oil it consumes, much of it from countries that 

10 do not have the level of environmental standards of 

11 Canada and the United States and that are hostile 

12 to United States interests or that have political and 

13 economic instability that compromises supply secu14 rity; 

15 (3) while a significant portion of the United 

16 States’ oil imports are derived from allies such as 

17 Canada and Mexico, the United States remains vul18 nerable to substantial supply disruptions created by 

19 geopolitical tumult in major oil-producing nations; 

20 (4) strong increases in oil consumption in the 

21 developing world outpace growth in oil supplies, 

22 bringing tight market conditions and higher oil 

23 prices in periods of global economic expansion or 

24 when supplies are threatened; 


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1 (5) the development and delivery of oil from 

2 Canada to the United States is in the national inter3 est of the United States by helping to secure reliable 

4 oil supplies to meet demand that is otherwise pro5 jected to be met by increases in imports from less 

6 secure and reliable suppliers; 

7 (6) secure and reliable trade with Canada com8 plements United States domestic energy priorities; 

9 (7) continued development of North American 

10 energy resources, including Canadian oil, increases 

11 the access of domestic refiners to stable and reliable 

12 sources of crude oil and improves the certainty of 

13 fuel supply for the Department of Defense, the larg14 est consumer of petroleum in the United States; 

15 (8)(A) Canada and the United States have the 

16 largest 2-way trading relationship in the world; 

17 (B) for every United States dollar spent on 

18 products from Canada, including oil, 90 cents is re19 turned to the United States economy; and 

20 (C) when the same metrics are applied to trad21 ing relationships with some other major sources of 

22 United States crude oil imports, returns are much 

23 lower; 

24 (9)(A) the principal choice for Canadian oil ex25 porters is between moving increasing crude oil volVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Dec 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3537.IH H3537

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1 umes to the United States or Asia, particularly 

2 China; and 

3 (B) increased Canadian oil exports to China 

4 would result in increased crude oil imports to the 

5 United States from less secure and reliable foreign 

6 sources, many of which do not have the level of envi7 ronmental standards of Canada and the United 

8 States; 

9 (10) increased Canadian crude oil imports into 

10 the United States correspondingly reduces the scale 

11 of wealth transfers to other more distant foreign 

12 sources resulting from the greater cost of trans13 porting crude oil from those sources; 

14 (11) not only are United States companies 

15 major investors in Canadian oil sands, but many 

16 United States businesses throughout the United 

17 States benefit from supplying goods and services re18 quired for ongoing Canadian oil sands operations 

19 and expansion; 

20 (12) there has been more than 3 years of con21 sideration and a coordinated review by more than a 

22 dozen Federal agencies of the technical aspects and 

23 of the environmental, social, and economic impacts 

24 of the proposed pipeline project known as the Key25 stone XL from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, NeVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Dec 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3537.IH H3537

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1 braska, and then on to the United States Gulf Coast 

2 through Cushing, Oklahoma; 

3 (13) the Keystone XL pipeline represents a 

4 high capacity pipeline supply option that could meet 

5 near, as well as long-term, market demand for crude 

6 oil to United States refineries, and could also poten7 tially bring over 100,000 barrels per day of United 

8 States Bakken crude oil to market; 

9 (14) completion of the Keystone XL pipeline 

10 would increase total Keystone pipeline system capac11 ity by 700,000 barrels per day to 1,290,000 barrels 

12 per day; 

13 (15) the Keystone XL pipeline would directly 

14 create 20,000 jobs and many more long-term jobs 

15 and related labor income benefits through the supply 

16 chain; 

17 (16) the earliest possible construction of the 

18 Keystone XL pipeline will increase the quantity of 

19 proven and potential reserves of Canadian oil avail20 able for United States use and increase United 

21 States jobs and will, as a result, serve the national 

22 interest; 

23 (17) the Keystone XL pipeline would be state24 of-the-art and be constructed to meet the highest 

25 safety standards; and 


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1 (18) as a result of the extensive governmental 

2 studies already made with respect to the Keystone 

3 XL project and the national interest in early delivery 

4 of Canadian oil to United States markets, a decision 

5 with respect to a Presidential permit for the Key6 stone XL pipeline should be promptly issued without 

7 further administrative delay or impediment. 

8 SEC. 3. PERMIT FOR KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

10 (b), not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, the President, acting through the Secretary 

12 of State, shall grant a permit under Executive Order 

13 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note; relating to issuance of permits 

14 with respect to certain energy-related facilities and land 

15 transportation crossings on the international boundaries 

16 of the United States) for the Keystone XL pipeline project 

17 application filed on September 19, 2008 (including amend18 ments). 

19 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall not be 

21 required to grant the permit under subsection (a) if 

22 the President determines that the Keystone XL 

23 pipeline would not serve the national interest. 

24 (2) REPORT.—If the President determines that 

25 the Keystone XL pipeline is not in the national inVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Dec 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3537.IH H3537

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1 terest under paragraph (1), the President shall, not 

2 later than 15 days after the date of the determina3 tion, submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

4 of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

5 the House of Representatives, the majority leader of 

6 the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the 

7 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the 

8 minority leader of the House of Representatives a 

9 report that provides a justification for determina10 tion, including consideration of economic, employ11 ment, energy security, foreign policy, trade, and en12 vironmental factors. 

13 (3) EFFECT OF NO FINDING OR ACTION.—If a 

14 determination is not made under paragraph (1) and 

15 no action is taken by the President under subsection 

16 (a) not later than 60 days after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the permit for the Keystone XL 

18 pipeline described in subsection (a) that meets the 

19 requirements of subsections (c) and (d) shall be in 

20 effect by operation of law. 

21 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The permit granted under sub22 section (a) shall require the following: 

23 (1) The permittee shall comply with all applica24 ble Federal and State laws (including regulations) 

25 and all applicable industrial codes regarding the conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Dec 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3537.IH H3537

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1 struction, connection, operation, and maintenance of 

2 the United States facilities. 

3 (2) The permittee shall obtain all requisite per4 mits from Canadian authorities and relevant Fed5 eral, State, and local governmental agencies. 

6 (3) The permittee shall take all appropriate 

7 measures to prevent or mitigate any adverse envi8 ronmental impact or disruption of historic properties 

9 in connection with the construction, operation, and 

10 maintenance of the United States facilities. 

11 (4) For the purpose of the permit issued under 

12 subsection (a) (regardless of any modifications under 

13 subsection (d))— 

14 (A) the final environmental impact state15 ment issued by the Secretary of State on Au16 gust 26, 2011, satisfies all requirements of the 

17 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and section 106 of the Na19 tional Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

20 470f); 

21 (B) any modification required by the Sec22 retary of State to the Plan described in para23 graph (5)(A) shall not require supplementation 

24 of the final environmental impact statement de25 scribed in that paragraph; and 


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1 (C) no further Federal environmental re2 view shall be required. 

3 (5) The construction, operation, and mainte4 nance of the facilities shall be in all material re5 spects similar to that described in the application 

6 described in subsection (a) and— 

7 (A) in accordance with the construction, 

8 mitigation, and reclamation measures agreed to 

9 by the permittee in the Construction Mitigation 

10 and Reclamation Plan found in appendix B of 

11 the final environmental impact statement issued 

12 by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, 

13 subject to the modification described in sub14 section (d); 

15 (B) the special conditions agreed to be16 tween the permittee and the Administrator of 

17 the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Ad18 ministration of the Department of Transpor19 tation found in appendix U of the final environ20 mental impact statement described in subpara21 graph (A); 

22 (C) if the modified route submitted by the 

23 Governor of Nebraska under subsection 

24 (d)(3)(B) crosses the Sand Hills region, the 

25 measures agreed to by the permittee for the 


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1 Sand Hills region found in appendix H of the 

2 final environmental impact statement described 

3 in subparagraph (A); and 

4 (D) the stipulations identified in appendix 

5 S of the final environmental impact statement 

6 described in subparagraph (A). 

7 (6) Other requirements that are standard in8 dustry practice or commonly included in Federal 

9 permits that are similar to a permit issued under 

10 subsection (a). 

11 (d) MODIFICATION.—The permit issued under sub12 section (a) shall require— 

13 (1) the reconsideration of routing of the Key14 stone XL pipeline within the State of Nebraska; 

15 (2) a review period during which routing within 

16 the State of Nebraska may be reconsidered and the 

17 route of the Keystone XL pipeline through the State 

18 altered with any accompanying modification to the 

19 Plan described in subsection (c)(5)(A); and 

20 (3) the President— 

21 (A) to coordinate review with the State of 

22 Nebraska and provide any necessary data and 

23 reasonable technical assistance material to the 

24 review process required under this subsection; 

25 and 


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1 (B) to approve the route within the State 

2 of Nebraska that has been submitted to the 

3 Secretary of State by the Governor of Ne4 braska. 

5 (e) EFFECT OF NO APPROVAL.—If the President 

6 does not approve the route within the State of Nebraska 

7 submitted by the Governor of Nebraska under subsection 

8 (d)(3)(B) not later than 10 days after the date of submis9 sion, the route submitted by the Governor of Nebraska 

10 under subsection (d)(3)(B) shall be considered approved, 

11 pursuant to the terms of the permit described in sub12 section (a) that meets the requirements of subsection (c) 

13 and this subsection, by operation of law. 

Æ 


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