II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1415 

To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of natural 

gas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mr. CASSIDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and 

importation of natural gas, 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 ‘‘License Natural Gas 

5 Now Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘LNG Now Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the exportation of natural gas produced in 

9 the United States is in the interest of the United 

10 States; and 


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1 (2) because natural gas produced in the United 

2 States has a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile 

3 than other energy sources used in high volumes in 

4 other countries, the exportation of natural gas from 

5 the United States may help lower global emissions of 

6 carbon dioxide. 

7 SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the section heading and all that 

11 follows through ‘‘(a) After’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL 

14 GAS; LNG TERMINALS. 

15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION TO EXPORT OR IMPORT NAT16 URAL GAS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)— 

20 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

21 ‘‘, unless,’’ and all that follows through the 

22 period at the end of the sentence and in23 serting ‘‘without modification or delay.’’; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘by its order’’ and all that follows through 

3 the period at the end of the sentence and 

4 inserting ‘‘condition the order on a require5 ment that the applicant, on request, pro6 vide relevant data to the Commission to fa7 cilitate the information collection and sta8 tistical activities of the Commission.’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO LIMIT EXPORTATION OF

11 NATURAL GAS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) MAJOR DISASTER OR EMERGENCY IN

13 UNITED STATES.—If the President declares a 

14 major disaster or emergency under the Robert 

15 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As16 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the 

17 President may limit the volume of natural gas 

18 exported from the United States during the 90- 

19 day period beginning on the date on which the 

20 President declares the major disaster or emer21 gency. 

22 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL EMERGENCY UNDER

23 INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW24 ERS ACT.—If the President declares a national 

25 emergency under section 202 of the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:42 Jul 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1415.IS S1415

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1 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

2 U.S.C. 1701) with respect to a country, the 

3 President may limit the volume of natural gas 

4 exported from the United States to that coun5 try. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTING NAT8 URAL GAS IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION.— 

9 Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2) 

10 or in any Federal authorization to export nat11 ural gas from the United States to a foreign 

12 country or to import natural gas into the 

13 United States from a foreign country in effect 

14 on the date of enactment of the LNG Now Act 

15 of 2017, to promote the efficient exploration, 

16 production, storage, supply, marketing, pricing, 

17 and regulation of energy resources, including 

18 fossil fuels, no employee of the Federal Govern19 ment shall impose or enforce any restriction or 

20 condition on— 

21 ‘‘(i) the exportation of natural gas 

22 from the United States to a foreign coun23 try; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the importation of natural gas 

2 into the United States from a foreign 

3 country. 

4 ‘‘(B) SECRETARY OF ENERGY PROHIBI5 TION.—The Secretary of Energy shall not treat, 

6 on the basis of national origin, any imported 

7 natural gas on an unjust, unreasonable, unduly 

8 discriminatory, or preferential basis. 

9 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF IMPORTED NATURAL

10 GAS AS A FIRST SALE.—The importation of natural 

11 gas into the United States from a foreign country 

12 shall be considered to be a first sale (as defined in 

13 section 2 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (15 

14 U.S.C. 3301)).’’; 

15 (3) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and 

16 (4) by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) 

17 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 

18 (b) EFFECT.—The amendments made by subsection 

19 (a) shall not affect any Federal authorization to export 

20 natural gas from the United States to a foreign country 

21 or to import natural gas into the United States from a 

22 foreign country in effect on the date of enactment of the 

23 LNG Now Act of 2017. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON FOSTERING NATURAL GAS EXPORTS. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 

4 to Congress a report describing actions taken by the 

5 United States Government, and actions that could be 

6 taken by the United States Government, to foster the ex7 portation of natural gas from the United States to foreign 

8 countries. 

9 SEC. 5. REPORT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS. 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 

12 to Congress a report that identifies regulations in effect 

13 as of such date of enactment that inhibit the growth of 

14 the market for natural gas exported from the United 

15 States. 

16 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or an amend18 ment made by this Act shall be construed to limit the au19 thority of the President— 

20 (1) under— 

21 (A) the Constitution of the United States; 

22 (B) the International Emergency Economic 

23 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or regula24 tions issued under that Act; 

25 (C) the National Emergencies Act (50 

26 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 


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1 (D) the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 

2 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.); or 

3 (E) any other provision of law that im4 poses sanctions with respect to a foreign person 

5 or foreign government (including any provision 

6 of law that prohibits or restricts a United 

7 States person from engaging in a transaction 

8 with a sanctioned person or government), in9 cluding a foreign government that is designated 

10 as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

11 (b) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DEFINED.—In 

12 this section, the term ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ means 

13 a country the government of which the Secretary of State 

14 has determined to be a government that has repeatedly 

15 provided support for acts of international terrorism for 

16 purposes of— 

17 (1) section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export Administra18 tion Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4605(j)(1)(A)) (as con19 tinued in effect pursuant to the International Emer20 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

21 seq.)); 

22 (2) section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance 

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

24 (3) section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control 

25 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or 


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1 (4) any other provision of law. 

Æ 


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