II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1340 

To provide for an expedited permitting process for critical energy infrastructure projects relating to the establishment of a regional energy hub 

in Appalachia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2017 

Mrs. CAPITO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for an expedited permitting process for critical 

energy infrastructure projects relating to the establishment of a regional energy hub in Appalachia, 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 ‘‘Appalachian Energy 

5 and Manufacturing Infrastructure Revitalization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPALACHIA.—The term ‘‘Appalachia’’ 

2 means the region comprised of the following States: 

3 (A) Kentucky. 

4 (B) Ohio. 

5 (C) Pennsylvania. 

6 (D) West Virginia. 

7 (2) APPALACHIAN REGIONAL ENERGY HUB.— 

8 The term ‘‘Appalachian regional energy hub’’ means 

9 a regional energy hub in Appalachia for natural gas 

10 and natural gas liquids, including storage and asso11 ciated pipelines. 

12 (3) APPLICABLE FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘applicable Federal agency’’ means a Federal agency 

14 responsible for the permitting, or administrative or 

15 environmental review or approval, of a critical en16 ergy infrastructure project or an aspect of a critical 

17 energy infrastructure project. 

18 (4) APPLICABLE STATE.—The term ‘‘applicable 

19 State’’ means a State in Appalachia in which a crit20 ical energy infrastructure project or an aspect of a 

21 critical energy infrastructure project is or is pro22 posed be located. 

23 (5) APPLICABLE STATE AGENCY.—The term 

24 ‘‘applicable State agency’’ means the State agency 

25 responsible for the permitting, or administrative or 


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1 environmental review or approval, of a critical en2 ergy infrastructure project or an aspect of a critical 

3 energy infrastructure project. 

4 (6) CRITICAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘critical energy infrastructure 

6 project’’ means a project designated under section 

7 3(a) as a critical energy infrastructure project eligi8 ble for expedited permitting under section 4. 

9 (7) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘project 

10 sponsor’’ means a Federal or State agency or private 

11 entity proposing the development of a critical energy 

12 infrastructure project. 

13 (8) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

14 means the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary 

15 of Energy. 

16 SEC. 3. CRITICAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section, 

18 the Secretaries may designate one or more eligible projects 

19 as critical energy infrastructure projects eligible for expe20 dited permitting under section 4. 

21 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—To be eligible to be des22 ignated as a critical energy infrastructure project under 

23 subsection (a), a project— 

24 (1) shall relate to the establishment of an Ap25 palachian regional energy hub; and 


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1 (2) shall be— 

2 (A) an ongoing project; or 

3 (B) a proposed project. 

4 (c) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project sponsor seeking 

6 for a project to be designated as a critical energy in7 frastructure project shall submit to the Secretaries 

8 an application at such time, in such manner, and 

9 containing such information as the Secretaries may 

10 require. 

11 (2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.— 

12 (A) MINIMUM CRITERIA.—An application 

13 submitted under paragraph (1), at a minimum, 

14 shall include— 

15 (i) a description of the contribution 

16 the project will make toward achieving the 

17 objective of an Appalachian regional en18 ergy hub; 

19 (ii) a description of the direct and in20 direct economic benefits and impacts an21 ticipated to be derived from the project, in22 cluding the number of jobs to be created 

23 that will be held by residents of Appa24 lachia; 


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1 (iii) the availability of immediate pri2 vate funding, including loan guarantees, 

3 loans, and grants to implement, operate, or 

4 maintain the project; 

5 (iv) the cost of the project; 

6 (v) the amount of Federal or State 

7 funding, if any, necessary to implement, 

8 operate, or maintain the project; and 

9 (vi) the status of the project if the 

10 project is an ongoing project. 

11 (B) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—In addition 

12 to the minimum criteria described in clauses (i) 

13 through (vi) of subparagraph (A), the Secre14 taries may require an application submitted 

15 under paragraph (1) to describe how the project 

16 will meet one or more of the following criteria: 

17 (i) Improve the performance of energy 

18 infrastructure and overall energy effi19 ciency. 

20 (ii) Promote the development and use 

21 of energy sources found in Appalachia. 

22 (iii) Contribute to the revitalization of 

23 manufacturing capacity in Appalachia. 


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1 (iv) Support the goal of reducing en2 ergy costs and ensuring affordable energy 

3 supplies for consumers and businesses. 

4 (d) IDENTIFICATION OF APPLICABLE STATE AGEN5 CIES.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

6 the Secretaries receive an application under subsection 

7 (c)(1), the Secretaries, in consultation with the Governor 

8 of each applicable State, shall identify all applicable State 

9 agencies for the project. 

10 (e) EVALUATION OF PROJECT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

12 the date on which the Secretaries receive an applica13 tion under subsection (c)(1), the Secretaries, in con14 sultation with the Governors of the applicable States 

15 and the applicable State agencies identified under 

16 subsection (d), shall evaluate the project, including 

17 by evaluating the extent to which— 

18 (A) the project application meets minimum 

19 criteria described in subsection (c)(2)(A); and 

20 (B) the project meets one or more of the 

21 additional criteria described in subsection 

22 (c)(2)(B), if any were required by the Secre23 taries. 


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1 (2) PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.—As soon as prac2 ticable after completing the evaluation under para3 graph (1), the Secretaries shall— 

4 (A) make the evaluation available to the 

5 public; and 

6 (B) allow for a period of 30 days for the 

7 submission of comments by residents of the ap8 plicable States on matters relating to the des9 ignation of the project as a critical energy in10 frastructure project. 

11 (f) ACTION BY THE SECRETARIES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

13 the date on which the public comment period under 

14 subsection (e)(2)(B) relating to an application con15 cludes, the Secretaries shall determine whether to 

16 designate the project proposed by the application as 

17 a critical energy infrastructure project. 

18 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretaries shall make 

19 publicly available the justifications for the deter20 mination under paragraph (1). 

21 SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PERMITTING PROCESS. 

22 (a) FEDERAL EXPEDITED PERMITTING PROCESS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

24 the date on which a project is designated as a crit25 ical energy infrastructure project under section 3(a), 


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1 the Secretaries shall coordinate with all applicable 

2 Federal agencies to expedite the Federal permitting 

3 process relating to the critical energy infrastructure 

4 project. 

5 (2) FEDERAL AGENCY LIAISONS.—On the re6 quest of the Secretaries and not later than 30 days 

7 after the date on which such a request is received, 

8 each applicable Federal agency shall designate a liai9 son within the applicable Federal agency who shall 

10 be responsible for coordinating with all other appli11 cable Federal agencies and applicable State agencies 

12 with respect to critical energy infrastructure 

13 projects. 

14 (3) FERC REVIEW.—The Federal Energy Reg15 ulatory Commission shall complete a review of any 

16 application or license relating to the critical energy 

17 infrastructure project. 

18 (4) EXPEDITED REVIEWS AND ACTIONS OF

19 FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

21 other provision of law, in any case in which a 

22 decision under any other Federal law relating to 

23 a critical energy infrastructure project is re24 quired to be made, each applicable Federal 

25 agency shall complete any relevant review not 


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1 later than 60 days after the date on which the 

2 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission com3 pletes the review described in paragraph (3). 

4 (B) EFFECT OF NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—A permit, license, 

6 or other similar application for approval 

7 relating to a critical energy infrastructure 

8 project that requires approval or other ac9 tion by a Federal agency shall be consid10 ered to be approved by the Federal agency 

11 if the Federal agency fails to approve or 

12 otherwise take an action relating to the 

13 permit, license, or other similar application 

14 by the deadline described in subparagraph 

15 (A). 

16 (ii) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.— 

17 (I) IN GENERAL.—An approval 

18 under clause (i) shall be considered to 

19 be a final agency action, which may 

20 not be reversed by any agency. 

21 (II) REVIEW.—In any action 

22 under chapter 7 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, that seeks review of a 

24 final agency action under subclause 

25 (I), a court may not set aside the acVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Jun 16, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1340.IS S1340

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1 tion based on the action having been 

2 made final under that subclause. 

3 (b) EXPEDITED PERMITTING PROCESS COMPLI4 ANCE.—On written notification by the project sponsor of 

5 the failure of an applicable Federal agency to adhere to 

6 the expedited permitting process required under sub7 section (a), the Secretaries shall take necessary actions en8 sure that the permitting of the critical energy infrastruc9 ture project is expedited. 

10 (c) PRIORITIZATION.—To the maximum extent prac11 ticable, the Secretaries shall prioritize the expedited per12 mitting of each critical energy infrastructure project under 

13 this section. 

14 (d) FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS.—The Secretaries 

15 and the liaisons designated under subsection (a)(2) shall 

16 cooperate to ensure expedited review of any application by 

17 a critical energy infrastructure project for a Federal 

18 grant, loan, or loan guarantee that is— 

19 (1) pending as of the date of enactment of this 

20 Act; or 

21 (2) submitted after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

2 Nothing in this Act alters any other Federal law, in3 cluding any other legal requirement under any other Fed4 eral law. 

Æ 


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