I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2115 

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to apply certain procedures before granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity 

for a proposed pipeline project, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2021 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. 

COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 

apply certain procedures before granting a certificate 

of public convenience and necessity for a proposed pipeline project, 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 ‘‘Safe and Accountable 

5 Federal Energy Review for Pipelines Act of 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SAFER Pipelines Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF NEW NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. 

2 Section 7(e) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 717f(e)) is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Except in the 

5 cases’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) Before granting a certificate for a proposed 

8 pipeline expansion project, the Commission shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) conduct— 

10 ‘‘(i) a full evidentiary hearing on any con11 tested issue of need for the expansion; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a cumulative review of major energy 

13 infrastructure projects planned throughout the 

14 region of the expansion, their purported pur15 pose and need, and their prospective impacts on 

16 State and regional energy goals; and 

17 ‘‘(B) consider— 

18 ‘‘(i) the existence of underutilized or ineffi19 cient use of existing pipeline capacity; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the effect of approval on existing cus21 tomers of other pipelines; 

22 ‘‘(iii) an analysis of demonstrated regional 

23 needs for the additional natural gas, including 

24 consideration of the existence of precedent con25 tracts; 


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•HR 2115 IH

1 ‘‘(iv) consistency with the State’s clean 

2 power plan, State Implementation Plan, renew3 able energy goals, and renewable portfolio 

4 standard; 

5 ‘‘(v) the region’s ability to meet any defi6 ciency in energy needs through energy effi7 ciency, dual fuel sources, LNG storage, or other 

8 economically viable and less environmentally 

9 disruptive measures than pipeline infrastruc10 ture; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) Federal renewable energy goals. 

12 ‘‘(3) In the case of an interstate natural gas pipeline 

13 project, for purposes of the due process requirements of 

14 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

15 4321 et seq.), the Commission shall consider, in addition 

16 to current requirements for environmental impact state17 ments, the cumulative impacts of other interstate natural 

18 gas pipeline projects located within the same State, as well 

19 as projects within 100 miles of the project, that are ap20 proved, filed with the Commission or, in the pre-filing 

21 process— 

22 ‘‘(A) for a 1-year period prior to the filing of 

23 the project application with the Commission; and 

24 ‘‘(B) before the issuance of the draft environ25 mental impact statement. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The Commission shall require all approved and 

2 constructed natural gas pipeline projects to undertake a 

3 five-year monitoring program to confirm that the environ4 mental impacts identified in any environmental impact 

5 statement or analysis conducted with respect to the project 

6 have been mitigated.’’. 

Æ 


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