I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8022 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for the review of 

applications for natural gas export and import orders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2024 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to establish a deadline for 

the review of applications for natural gas export and 

import orders, 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. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS 

4 EXPORT AND IMPORT ORDERS. 

5 (a) DEADLINE FOR REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.— 

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

7 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘After six months’’ and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) After six months’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘The Commission shall issue 

2 such order upon application,’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

3 as provided in subsection (c), the Secretary of En4 ergy shall grant or deny an application for such an 

5 order by not later than 180 days after receiving the 

6 application. The Secretary shall grant such an appli7 cation,’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DELAYS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—If the Secretary of Energy 

11 fails to grant or deny an application for an 

12 order under this subsection to export or import 

13 natural gas by the deadline described in para14 graph (1), the Secretary of Energy shall, not 

15 later than 30 days after such deadline, submit 

16 to Congress a report that details the reason for 

17 the failure. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION REVIEW BY FERC.— 

19 Notwithstanding section 402(f) of the Depart20 ment of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 7172(f)), if the Secretary of Energy fails to 

22 grant or deny an application for an order under 

23 this subsection to export or import natural gas 

24 by the deadline described in paragraph (1), the 

25 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall 


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1 grant the application, unless, after opportunity 

2 for hearing, it finds that the proposed expor3 tation or importation will not be consistent with 

4 the public interest. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPEAL OF DENIAL OF AN APPLICA6 TION.—If the Secretary of Energy denies an applica7 tion for an order under this subsection to export or 

8 import natural gas, the applicant may submit to the 

9 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a request to 

10 grant the application. The Federal Energy Regu11 latory Commission shall grant the application or af12 firm the denial by not later than 60 days after re13 ceiving the request. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

14 Commission shall grant the application, unless, after 

15 opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed 

16 exportation or importation will not be consistent 

17 with the public interest. 

18 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary of En19 ergy shall annually submit to Congress a report 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) provides a detailed rational for each 

22 decision to grant or deny an application for an 

23 order under this subsection to export or import 

24 natural gas; and 

25 ‘‘(B) identifies— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the number of such applications 

2 received by the Secretary of Energy during 

3 the preceding year; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the number of such applications 

5 granted or denied by the Secretary of En6 ergy by the deadline described in para7 graph (1); and 

8 ‘‘(iii) measures implemented by the 

9 Secretary of Energy to improve the effi10 cient review of such applications by the 

11 Secretary of Energy.’’. 

12 (b) EXPEDITED APPLICATION AND APPROVAL PROC13 ESS.—Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 717b(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED APPLICATION AND APPROVAL

16 PROCESS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS.—For pur18 poses of subsection (a), the importation of the nat19 ural gas referred to in subsection (b), or the expor20 tation of natural gas to a nation with which there 

21 is in effect a free trade agreement requiring national 

22 treatment for trade in natural gas, shall be deemed 

23 to be consistent with the public interest, and appli24 cations for such importation or exportation shall be 

25 granted without modification or delay. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LOW-IMPACT PROJECTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of En3 ergy shall grant or deny an application for an 

4 order under subsection (a) to export natural 

5 gas from, or import natural gas to, a low-im6 pact project by not later than 90 days after re7 ceiving such application. 

8 ‘‘(B) LOW-IMPACT PROJECT DEFINED.—In 

9 this paragraph, the term ‘low-impact project’ 

10 means an LNG terminal for which an applica11 tion has been submitted under subsection (e) to 

12 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for 

13 the expansion of the capacity of such LNG ter14 minal by not more than 5 billion cubic feet per 

15 day.’’. 

16 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the 

17 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Commission’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Energy’’ each place it 

20 appears; and 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘Commis22 sion’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Energy’’. 

Æ 


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