I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 351 

To provide for expedited approval of exportation of natural gas, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. TURNER, 

Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. OLSON, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, and Mr. FLORES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LNG Permitting Cer5 tainty and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 

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

8 also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regu9 latory Commission or the United States Maritime AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jan 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H351.IH H351

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1 istration to site, construct, expand, or operate LNG export 

2 facilities, the Department of Energy shall issue a final de3 cision on any application for the authorization to export 

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

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

6 (1) the conclusion of the review to site, con7 struct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities re8 quired by the National Environmental Policy Act of 

9 1969 (42 U.S. C. 4321 et seq.); or 

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

11 (b) CONCLUSION OF REVIEW.—For purposes of sub12 section (a), review required by the National Environ13 mental Policy Act of 1969 shall be considered concluded— 

14 (1) for a project requiring an Environmental 

15 Impact Statement, 30 days after publication of a 

16 Final Environmental Impact Statement; 

17 (2) for a project for which an Environmental 

18 Assessment has been prepared, 30 days after publi19 cation by the Department of Energy of a Finding of 

20 No Significant Impact; and 

21 (3) upon a determination by the lead agency 

22 that an application is eligible for a categorical exclu23 sion pursuant National Environmental Policy Act of 

24 1969 implementing regulations. 


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

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

3 be located pursuant to an application described in sub4 section (a) shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 

5 over any civil action for the review of— 

6 (A) an order issued by the Department of En7 ergy with respect to such application; or 

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

9 a final decision on such application. 

10 (2) If the Court in a civil action described in para11 graph (1) finds that the Department of Energy has failed 

12 to issue a final decision on the application as required 

13 under subsection (a), the Court shall order the Depart14 ment of Energy to issue such final decision not later than 

15 30 days after the Court’s order. 

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

17 this subsection for expedited consideration and shall set 

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

19 filing date of the initial pleading. 

20 SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF EXPORT DESTINATIONS. 

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

22 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(g) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF LNG EXPORT DES24 TINATIONS.—As a condition for approval of any authoriza25 tion to export LNG, the Secretary of Energy shall require 


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1 the applicant to publicly disclose the specific destination 

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

Æ 


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