II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1465 

To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of natural 

gas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2017 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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) PROHIBITIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTING NAT12 URAL GAS IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION.— 

13 Except as provided in paragraph (1) or in any 

14 Federal authorization to export natural gas 

15 from the United States to a foreign country or 

16 to import natural gas into the United States 

17 from a foreign country in effect on the date of 

18 enactment of the LNG Now Act of 2017, to 

19 promote the efficient exploration, production, 

20 storage, supply, marketing, pricing, and regula21 tion of energy resources, including fossil fuels, 

22 no employee of the Federal Government shall 

23 impose or enforce any restriction or condition 

24 on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the exportation of natural gas 

2 from the United States to a foreign coun3 try; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the importation of natural gas 

5 into the United States from a foreign 

6 country. 

7 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF IMPORTED NATURAL

8 GAS.—The Commission shall not treat, on the 

9 basis of national origin, any imported natural 

10 gas on an unjust, unreasonable, unduly dis11 criminatory, or preferential basis. 

12 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF IMPORTED NATURAL

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

14 gas into the United States from a foreign country 

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

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

17 U.S.C. 3301)).’’; 

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

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

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

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

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

23 natural gas from the United States to a foreign country 

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


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

2 LNG Now Act of 2017. 

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

4 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 

6 to Congress a report describing actions taken by the 

7 United States Government, and actions that could be 

8 taken by the United States Government, to foster the ex9 portation of natural gas from the United States to foreign 

10 countries. 

11 SEC. 5. REPORT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 

14 to Congress a report that identifies regulations in effect 

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

16 the market for natural gas exported from the United 

17 States. 

Æ 


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