I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7176 

To repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2024 

Mr. PFLUGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural 

gas. 

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 ‘‘Unlocking our Domes5 tic LNG Potential Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP. 

7 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c); 

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

11 subsections (a) and (b), respectively; 


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1 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub2 section (c), and moving such subsection after sub3 section (b), as so redesignated; 

4 (4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by 

5 amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘(1) The 

6 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (in this sub7 section referred to as the ‘Commission’) shall have 

8 the exclusive authority to approve or deny an appli9 cation for authorization for the siting, construction, 

10 expansion, or operation of a facility to export nat11 ural gas from the United States to a foreign country 

12 or import natural gas from a foreign country, in13 cluding an LNG terminal. In determining whether to 

14 approve or deny an application under this para15 graph, the Commission shall deem the exportation or 

16 importation of natural gas to be consistent with the 

17 public interest. Except as specifically provided in 

18 this Act, nothing in this Act is intended to affect 

19 otherwise applicable law related to any Federal 

20 agency’s authorities or responsibilities related to fa21 cilities to import or export natural gas, including 

22 LNG terminals.’’; and 

23 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 


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1 ‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of 

2 the President under the Constitution, the International 

3 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

4 seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

5 seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva6 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the 

7 Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi8 sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 

9 foreign government (including any provision of law that 

10 prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging 

11 in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), 

12 including a country that is designated as a state sponsor 

13 of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports. 

14 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter15 rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec16 retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup17 port for international terrorism pursuant to— 

18 ‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con19 trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)); 

20 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

21 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

22 ‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 

23 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

24 ‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’. 

Æ 


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