II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4348 

To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission from issuing permits for the construction or modification 

of electric transmission facilities in a State over the objection of the 

State, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2024 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing permits for 

the construction or modification of electric transmission 

facilities in a State over the objection of the State, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Farm5 ers from the Green New Deal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to protect farmers and 

3 landowners from national efforts to site electric trans4 mission facilities over the objection of State regulators. 

5 SEC. 3. SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION 

6 FACILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216(b) of the Federal 

8 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(A) a State in which the transmission fa12 cilities are to be constructed or modified does 

13 not have authority to approve the siting of the 

14 facilities;’’; 

15 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

16 (6) as subparagraphs (B) through (F), respectively, 

17 and indenting appropriately; 

18 (3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

19 (as so designated), by striking ‘‘Except’’ and insert20 ing the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; 

22 (4) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

25 (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 

26 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(G) the proposed construction or modi3 fication minimizes any adverse effects on land4 owners and agriculture, adequately compensates 

5 landowners and agricultural producers for any 

6 harms, and provides benefits to consumers in 

7 the State that exceed the harms to landowners 

8 and agricultural producers.’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Under no circumstances 

11 may the Commission review an application or issue 

12 a permit for the construction or modification of 

13 transmission facilities if a State entity with author14 ity to approve the siting of the facilities— 

15 ‘‘(A) has previously denied an identical or 

16 substantially similar application; or 

17 ‘‘(B) is currently reviewing an identical or 

18 substantially similar application.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 216(i)(4) 

20 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(i)(4)) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘, unless’’ in the matter preceding 

22 subparagraph (A) and all that follows through the period 

23 at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting a period. 

24 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

3 (2) COMMITTEES OF JURISDICTION.—The term 

4 ‘‘committees of jurisdiction’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

6 Resources of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com8 merce of the House of Representatives. 

9 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

11 the Commission shall submit to the committees of jurisdic12 tion and make publicly available a report describing all 

13 actions taken by the Commission pursuant to section 

14 216(b) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) dur15 ing the period covered by the report. 

16 (c) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub17 section (b) shall include a description of— 

18 (1) any adverse effects on private landowners, 

19 farmers, and agricultural producers; 

20 (2) how those effects were taken into account; 

21 and 

22 (3) the steps taken by the Commission— 

23 (A) to minimize those effects; 

24 (B) to compensate any affected individuals; 

25 and 


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1 (C) to ensure that affected individuals ben2 efit from the applicable project. 

Æ 


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