IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 351 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To provide for expedited approval of exportation 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, 

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HR 351 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LNG Permitting Cer3 tainty and Transparency Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 

5 (a) DECISION DEADLINE.—For proposals that must 

6 also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regu7 latory Commission or the United States Maritime Admin8 istration to site, construct, expand, or operate LNG export 

9 facilities, the Department of Energy shall issue a final de10 cision on any application for the authorization to export 

11 natural gas under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 717b) not later than 30 days after the later of— 

13 (1) the conclusion of the review to site, con14 struct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities re15 quired by the National Environmental Policy Act of 

16 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 

17 (2) the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 (b) CONCLUSION OF REVIEW.—For purposes of sub19 section (a), review required by the National Environ20 mental Policy Act of 1969 shall be considered concluded— 

21 (1) for a project requiring an Environmental 

22 Impact Statement, 30 days after publication of a 

23 Final Environmental Impact Statement; 

24 (2) for a project for which an Environmental 

25 Assessment has been prepared, 30 days after publimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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HR 351 RFS

1 cation by the Department of Energy of a Finding of 

2 No Significant Impact; and 

3 (3) upon a determination by the lead agency 

4 that an application is eligible for a categorical exclu5 sion pursuant National Environmental Policy Act of 

6 1969 implementing regulations. 

7 (c) JUDICIAL ACTION.—(1) The United States Court 

8 of Appeals for the circuit in which the export facility will 

9 be located pursuant to an application described in sub10 section (a) shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 

11 over any civil action for the review of— 

12 (A) an order issued by the Department of En13 ergy with respect to such application; or 

14 (B) the Department of Energy’s failure to issue 

15 a final decision on such application. 

16 (2) If the Court in a civil action described in para17 graph (1) finds that the Department of Energy has failed 

18 to issue a final decision on the application as required 

19 under subsection (a), the Court shall order the Depart20 ment of Energy to issue such final decision not later than 

21 30 days after the Court’s order. 

22 (3) The Court shall set any civil action brought under 

23 this subsection for expedited consideration and shall set 

24 the matter on the docket as soon as practical after the 

25 filing date of the initial pleading. 

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HR 351 RFS

1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF EXPORT DESTINATIONS. 

2 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(g) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF LNG EXPORT DES5 TINATIONS.—As a condition for approval of any authoriza6 tion to export LNG, the Secretary of Energy shall require 

7 the applicant to publicly disclose the specific destination 

8 or destinations of any such authorized LNG exports.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 28, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

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