II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1314 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and transparency in 

consideration of interstate natural gas pipelines, to provide for greater 

public input opportunities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2017 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to bolster fairness and transparency in consideration of interstate natural gas pipelines, to provide for greater public input opportunities, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Pipeline Fairness and 

5 Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMINENT DOMAIN. 

7 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

8 United States to protect the rights of citizens of the 


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1 United States to their private property, including by lim2 iting the taking of private property by the Federal Govern3 ment to situations in which the taking is for public use, 

4 with just compensation, and to benefit the general public, 

5 and not merely to advance the economic interests of pri6 vate parties that would be given ownership or use of the 

7 property taken. 

8 (b) JUST COMPENSATION.—Section 7(h) of the Nat9 ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(h)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the subsection designation and 

11 all that follows through ‘‘When any holder’’ and in12 serting the following: 

13 ‘‘(h) EMINENT DOMAIN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—When any holder’’; 

15 (2) in the second sentence— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘The practice’’ and insert17 ing the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the practice’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘is situated:’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘is situated.’’; and 

23 (C) by striking ‘‘Provided, That the’’ and 

24 inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(3) JUST COMPENSATION.—In determining the 

3 just compensation for property acquired by the exer4 cise of the right of eminent domain under paragraph 

5 (1), in the case of land subject to a conservation 

6 easement, the court with jurisdiction over the pro7 ceeding shall consider the lost conservation value of 

8 that land.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. PROCESS COORDINATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL 

10 REVIEW. 

11 Section 15 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717n) 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR INTERSTATE

14 NATURAL GAS PIPELINES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

16 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal 

18 authorization’ means any authorization re19 quired under Federal law with respect to 

20 an application for a certificate of public 

21 convenience and necessity under section 7. 

22 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘Federal 

23 authorization’ includes any permits, special 

24 use authorizations, certifications, opinions, 

25 or other approvals as may be required 


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1 under Federal law with respect to an appli2 cation for a certificate of public conven3 ience and necessity under section 7. 

4 ‘‘(B) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means 

5 a project for the construction or extension of fa6 cilities for the transportation in interstate com7 merce of natural gas that requires Federal au8 thorization. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

10 STATEMENTS.—In considering an application for 

11 Federal authorization for a project in a State, if, 

12 during the 1-year period beginning on the date on 

13 which the application is filed, an application for Fed14 eral authorization for a separate project is filed, and 

15 that project is located in the same State and within 

16 100 miles of the first project, the Commission shall 

17 consider both projects to be 1 project for purposes 

18 of complying with the National Environmental Pol19 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

21 STATEMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission de23 termines that comments submitted in response 

24 to a draft environmental impact statement pre25 pared with respect to an application for Federal 


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1 authorization raise issues that exceed the initial 

2 scope of the draft environmental impact state3 ment, a supplemental environmental impact 

4 statement shall be prepared for the project. 

5 ‘‘(B) MITIGATION PLANS.—If a draft envi6 ronmental impact statement prepared with re7 spect to an application for Federal authoriza8 tion does not include information about mitiga9 tion plans for adverse impacts that cannot rea10 sonably be avoided, a supplemental environ11 mental impact statement shall be prepared that 

12 includes that information. 

13 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC MEETING REQUIREMENTS.—In 

14 complying with the National Environmental Policy 

15 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect 

16 to an application for Federal authorization, the 

17 Commission shall ensure that any public meeting 

18 shall be held— 

19 ‘‘(A) in each county or equivalent subdivi20 sion in which the project will be located; and 

21 ‘‘(B) during each period of public comment 

22 preceding, if applicable, publication of— 

23 ‘‘(i) a draft environmental impact 

24 statement; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a final environmental impact 

2 statement; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) any supplemental environmental 

4 impact statement.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. IMPACTS ON CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCES. 

6 Subsection (g) of section 15 of the Natural Gas Act 

7 (15 U.S.C. 717n) (as added by section 3) is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAILS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In preparing an envi11 ronmental impact statement with respect to an 

12 application for Federal authorization for a 

13 project, any evaluation of the visual impacts of 

14 the project on a national scenic trail designated 

15 by the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 

16 1241 et seq.) in the environmental impact 

17 statement shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) consider the cumulative visual im19 pacts of any similar proposed project— 

20 ‘‘(I) for which an application for 

21 Federal authorization is in the pre-fil22 ing or filing stage; and 

23 ‘‘(II) that impacts the same na24 tional scenic trail within 100 miles of 

25 the first project; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) include visual impact simulations 

2 depicting leaf-on and leaf-off views at each 

3 location where major visual impacts occur, 

4 as identified, authenticated, and justified 

5 during the period of public comment pre6 ceding the publication of a draft environ7 mental impact statement by the head of 

8 the Federal agency or independent agency 

9 administering the land at the applicable lo10 cation. 

11 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT

12 PLANS.—No amendment to a National Forest 

13 management plan under the Forest and Range14 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

15 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) shall be consid16 ered if the result of the amendment represents 

17 net degradation to the resources of a national 

18 scenic trail designated by the National Trails 

19 System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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