113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3301 

AN ACT 

To require approval for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural gas pipelines 

or electric transmission facilities at the national boundary of the United States for the import or export of 

oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada or 

Mexico, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘North American En5 ergy Infrastructure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDING. 

7 Congress finds that the United States should estab8 lish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process for 

9 the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance 

10 of oil and natural gas pipelines and electric transmission 

11 facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas 

12 and the transmission of electricity to and from Canada 

13 and Mexico, in pursuit of a more secure and efficient 

14 North American energy market. 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA16 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT THE NATIONAL 

17 BOUNDARY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in sub19 section (c) and section 7, no person may construct, con20 nect, operate, or maintain a cross-border segment of an 

21 oil pipeline or electric transmission facility for the import 

22 or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from 

23 Canada or Mexico without obtaining a certificate of cross24 ing for the construction, connection, operation, or mainte25 nance of the cross-border segment under this section. 
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1 (b) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 

2 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

3 after final action is taken under the National Envi4 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

5 seq.) with respect to a cross-border segment for 

6 which a request is received under this section, the 

7 relevant official identified under paragraph (2), in 

8 consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

9 issue a certificate of crossing for the cross-border 

10 segment unless the relevant official finds that the 

11 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

12 of the cross-border segment is not in the public in13 terest of the United States. 

14 (2) RELEVANT OFFICIAL.—The relevant official 

15 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 

16 (A) the Secretary of State with respect to 

17 oil pipelines; and 

18 (B) the Secretary of Energy with respect 

19 to electric transmission facilities. 

20 (3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTRIC

21 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the case of a request 

22 for a certificate of crossing for the construction, con23 nection, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border 

24 segment of an electric transmission facility, the Sec25 retary of Energy shall require, as a condition of 
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1 issuing the certificate of crossing for the request 

2 under paragraph (1), that the cross-border segment 

3 of the electric transmission facility be constructed, 

4 connected, operated, or maintained consistent with 

5 all applicable policies and standards of— 

6 (A) the Electric Reliability Organization 

7 and the applicable regional entity; and 

8 (B) any Regional Transmission Organiza9 tion or Independent System Operator with 

10 operational or functional control over the cross11 border segment of the electric transmission fa12 cility. 

13 (c) EXCLUSIONS.—This section shall not apply to any 

14 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of a 

15 cross-border segment of an oil pipeline or electric trans16 mission facility for the import or export of oil or the trans17 mission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico— 

18 (1) if the cross-border segment is operating for 

19 such import, export, or transmission as of the date 

20 of enactment of this Act; 

21 (2) if a permit described in section 6 for such 

22 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

23 has been issued; 
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1 (3) if a certificate of crossing for such construc2 tion, connection, operation, or maintenance has pre3 viously been issued under this section; or 

4 (4) if an application for a permit described in 

5 section 6 for such construction, connection, oper6 ation, or maintenance is pending on the date of en7 actment of this Act, until the earlier of— 

8 (A) the date on which such application is 

9 denied; or 

10 (B) July 1, 2016. 

11 (d) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

12 (1) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing in 

13 this section or section 7 shall affect the application 

14 of any other Federal statute to a project for which 

15 a certificate of crossing for the construction, connec16 tion, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border 

17 segment is sought under this section. 

18 (2) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this sec19 tion or section 7 shall affect the requirement to ob20 tain approval or authorization under sections 3 and 

21 7 of the Natural Gas Act for the siting, construc22 tion, or operation of any facility to import or export 

23 natural gas. 

24 (3) ENERGY POLICY AND CONSERVATION

25 ACT.—Nothing in this section or section 7 shall af-
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1 fect the authority of the President under section 

2 103(a) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. 

3 SEC. 4. IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS 

4 TO CANADA AND MEXICO. 

5 Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 717b(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘No order is required under subsection (a) to authorize 

8 the export or import of any natural gas to or from Canada 

9 or Mexico.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CANADA 

11 AND MEXICO. 

12 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE

13 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 

14 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) of 

17 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State regula19 tion does not conflict with the exercise of the Com20 mission’s powers under or relating to subsection 

21 202(e)’’. 

22 (2) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY EX23 CHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Utility Reg24 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a–4(b)) 

25 is amended by striking ‘‘the Commission has con-
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1 ducted hearings and made the findings required 

2 under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act’’ and 

3 all that follows through the period at the end and 

4 inserting ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 

5 finds that the proposed transmission facilities would 

6 not impair the sufficiency of electric supply within 

7 the United States or would not impede or tend to 

8 impede the coordination in the public interest of fa9 cilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED. 

11 No Presidential permit (or similar permit) required 

12 under Executive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), 

13 Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 

14 301 of title 3, United States Code, Executive Order No. 

15 12038, Executive Order No. 10485, or any other Execu16 tive order shall be necessary for the construction, connec17 tion, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas 

18 pipeline or electric transmission facility, or any cross-bor19 der segment thereof. 

20 SEC. 7. MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS. 

21 No certificate of crossing under section 3, or permit 

22 described in section 6, shall be required for a modification 

23 to the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

24 of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission 

25 facility— 
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1 (1) that is operating for the import or export 

2 of oil or natural gas or the transmission of elec3 tricity to or from Canada or Mexico as of the date 

4 of enactment of the Act; 

5 (2) for which a permit described in section 6 for 

6 such construction, connection, operation, or mainte7 nance has been issued; or 

8 (3) for which a certificate of crossing for the 

9 cross-border segment of the pipeline or facility has 

10 previously been issued under section 3. 

11 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES. 

12 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 3 through 7, and 

13 the amendments made by such sections, shall take effect 

14 on July 1, 2015. 

15 (b) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant offi16 cial described in section 3(b)(2) shall— 

17 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Reg19 ister notice of a proposed rulemaking to carry out 

20 the applicable requirements of section 3; and 

21 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en22 actment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register 

23 a final rule to carry out the applicable requirements 

24 of section 3. 
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1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘cross-border segment’’ means the 

4 portion of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

5 transmission facility that is located at the national 

6 boundary of the United States with either Canada or 

7 Mexico; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘modification’’ includes a reversal 

9 of flow direction, change in ownership, volume ex10 pansion, downstream or upstream interconnection, 

11 or adjustment to maintain flow (such as a reduction 

12 or increase in the number of pump or compressor 

13 stations); 

14 (3) the term ‘‘natural gas’’ has the meaning 

15 given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 717a); 

17 (4) the term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or a petro18 leum product; 

19 (5) the terms ‘‘Electric Reliability Organiza20 tion’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the meanings given 

21 those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act 

22 (16 U.S.C. 824o); and 

23 (6) the terms ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ 

24 and ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ have the 
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1 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Fed2 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

Passed the House of Representatives June 24, 2014. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3301 

AN ACT 

To require approval for the construction, connecother purposes. tricity to or from Canada or Mexico, and for the import or export of oil, natural gas, or elec- the national boundary of the United States for gas pipelines or electric transmission facilities at tion, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural