II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 782 

To require applicable Federal agencies to take action on applications for 

Federal energy authorizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require applicable Federal agencies to take action on 

applications for Federal energy authorizations, 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 ‘‘Furthering Resource 

5 Exploration and Empowering American Energy Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘FREE American Energy Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FEDERAL ENERGY AUTHORIZATIONS. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL ENERGY AUTHORIZA9 TION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Federal energy authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S782.IS S782

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1 ization’’ means a permit, waiver, license, or other author2 ization required from a Federal agency relating to— 

3 (1) a natural gas transmission project; 

4 (2) a natural gas interstate project; 

5 (3) the exportation of natural gas; 

6 (4) oil and gas lease sales; 

7 (5) onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling ex8 ploration; or 

9 (6) alternative energy production, including— 

10 (A) geothermal production; 

11 (B) solar production; 

12 (C) wind production; and 

13 (D) mineral production. 

14 (b) AGENCY ACTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting 

16 through the Director of the Office of Management 

17 and Budget, shall require each applicable Federal 

18 agency to, not later than 60 days after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, review and approve or deny 

20 each application for a Federal energy authorization 

21 that is pending with the Federal agency on the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 

23 (2) SUBSEQUENT APPLICATIONS.—The Presi24 dent, acting through the Director of the Office of 

25 Management and Budget, shall require each applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S782.IS S782

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1 ble Federal agency to, not later than 60 days after 

2 the date on which the Federal agency receives an ap3 plication for a Federal energy authorization, review 

4 and approve or deny the application. 

5 (c) DENIAL.—If a Federal agency denies an applica6 tion for a Federal energy authorization under paragraph 

7 (1) or (2) of subsection (b), not later than 5 days after 

8 the date of the denial, the Federal agency shall submit 

9 to Congress a detailed explanation of the reasons for the 

10 denial. 

11 (d) EXTENSION.—On request by the head of a Fed12 eral agency, the President, acting through the Director of 

13 the Office of Management and Budget, may grant an ex14 tension of the deadline under paragraph (1) or (2) of sub15 section (b) of not more than 30 days, on the condition 

16 that the head of the Federal agency submits to Congress 

17 an explanation of the reasons why the extension is nec18 essary. 

19 SEC. 3. FERC AUTHORIZATIONS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

22 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

23 (2) FERC AUTHORIZATION.—The term ‘‘FERC 

24 authorization’’ means a permit, waiver, license, or 


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1 other authorization required from the Commission 

2 relating to— 

3 (A) transportation of oil by pipeline in 

4 interstate commerce; 

5 (B) construction of new interstate natural 

6 gas pipelines or natural gas storage projects; 

7 (C) liquefied natural gas terminal projects; 

8 or 

9 (D) projects relating to hydropower. 

10 (b) FERC ACTION.— 

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

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

13 shall review and approve or deny each application 

14 for a FERC authorization that is pending on the 

15 date of enactment of this Act. 

16 (2) SUBSEQUENT APPLICATIONS.—Not later 

17 than 60 days after the date on which the Commis18 sion receives an application for a FERC authoriza19 tion, the Commission shall review and approve or 

20 deny the application. 

21 (c) DENIAL.—If the Commission denies an applica22 tion for a FERC authorization under paragraph (1) or 

23 (2) of subsection (b), not later than 5 days after the date 

24 of the denial, the Commission shall submit to Congress 

25 a detailed explanation of the reasons for the denial. 


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1 (d) EXTENSION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may sub3 mit to Congress a request for an extension of the 

4 deadline under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

5 (b) of not more than 30 days, which shall include an 

6 explanation of the reasons why the extension is nec7 essary. 

8 (2) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—A request for 

9 an extension under paragraph (1) may only be ap10 proved by an Act of Congress. 

11 SEC. 4. RESCISSION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER. 

12 Executive Order 13990 (42 U.S.C. 4321 note; relat13 ing to protecting public health and the environment and 

14 restoring science to tackle the climate crisis) is rescinded 

15 and shall have no force or effect. 

16 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION, CONNECTION, OPERATION, AND 

17 MAINTENANCE OF OIL OR NATURAL GAS 

18 PIPELINES OR ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FA19 CILITIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Presidential permit (or similar 

21 permit) required under Executive Order 13337 (3 U.S.C. 

22 301 note; 69 Fed. Reg. 25299 (April 30, 2004)), Execu23 tive Order 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note; 33 Fed. Reg. 11741 

24 (August 16, 1968)), section 301 of title 3, United States 

25 Code, Executive Order 12038 (43 Fed. Reg. 3674 (JanuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S782.IS S782

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1 ary 26, 1978)), Executive Order 10485 (18 Fed. Reg. 

2 5397 (September 9, 1953)), or any other Executive order 

3 shall be necessary for the construction, connection, oper4 ation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or 

5 electric transmission facility or any cross-border segment 

6 thereof. 

7 (b) CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY.—The construction, 

8 connection, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural 

9 gas pipeline or electric transmission facility, or any cross10 border segment thereof, may be approved by an Act of 

11 Congress. 

12 SEC. 6. ENERGY PRODUCTION PERMITS ON FEDERAL 

13 LAND. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) AGENCY; RULE MAKING.—The terms ‘‘agen16 cy’’ and ‘‘rule making’’ have the meanings given the 

17 terms in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

19 means public lands (as defined in section 103 of the 

20 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

21 (43 U.S.C. 1702)). 

22 (b) DELEGATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

24 through the Director of the Office of Management and 

25 Budget, shall initiate a rule making to develop an interVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S782.IS S782

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1 agency process under which any authority or requirement 

2 of an agency to issue a permit or other required authoriza3 tion necessary to identify, develop, extract, and transport 

4 oil or natural gas on Federal land shall be delegated to 

5 the State within the borders of which the Federal land 

6 is located, on written request of the State to assume such 

7 authority. 

8 SEC. 7. CODIFICATION OF NEPA IMPLEMENTING REGULA9 TIONS REFORM RULE. 

10 The final rule of the Council on Environmental Qual11 ity entitled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Implementing the 

12 Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Pol13 icy Act’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 43304 (July 16, 2020)) is enacted 

14 into law. 

15 SEC. 8. NAVIGABLE WATERS PROTECTION RULE. 

16 The final rule of the Corps of Engineers and the En17 vironmental Protection Agency entitled ‘‘The Navigable 

18 Waters Protection Rule: Definition of ‘Waters of the 

19 United States’ ’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 22250 (April 21, 2020)) 

20 is enacted into law. 

21 SEC. 9. TERMINATION OF CREDIT FOR CLEAN VEHICLES. 

22 Section 30D(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

23 is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2032’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘December 31, 2024’’. 

Æ 


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