II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1237 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to limit the authority of the Secretary 

of Energy to approve certain proposals relating to export activities of 

liquefied natural gas terminals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

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

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Natural Gas Act to limit the authority of 

the Secretary of Energy to approve certain proposals 

relating to export activities of liquefied natural gas terminals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF 

4 ENERGY TO APPROVE CERTAIN LNG TER5 MINAL PROPOSALS. 

6 Section 3(e) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 717b(e)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(e)(1) The Commission’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(e) LNG TERMINALS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

6 (5), the Commission’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (1), in the second sentence, by 

8 striking ‘‘Except as’’ and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) NO EFFECT ON OTHER FEDERAL AU10 THORITY.—Except as’’; 

11 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (A) by indenting subparagraphs (A) 

13 through (D) appropriately; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘(2) Upon’’ and inserting 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) HEARING AND DETERMINATION.—On’’; 

17 (4) in paragraph (3)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided 

19 in subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(3) ACTION ON APPROVAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

23 subparagraph (B) and paragraph (5)’’; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (i) in clause (ii), by indenting sub2 clauses (I) through (III) appropriately; 

3 (ii) by indenting clauses (i) and (ii) 

4 appropriately; and 

5 (iii) by striking ‘‘(B) Before’’ and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS BEFORE 2015.—Be8 fore’’; and 

9 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘(C) 

10 Subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(C) SUNSET.—Subparagraph (B)’’; 

12 (5) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(4) An 

13 order’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(4) PROTECTION OF EXISTING CUSTOMERS.— 

15 An order’’; and 

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

17 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF ENERGY

18 OVER CERTAIN PROPOSALS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL EXPORT PRO21 POSAL.—The term ‘additional export pro22 posal’ means any proposal submitted to the 

23 Secretary by a new or existing LNG ter24 minal— 


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1 ‘‘(I) to initiate the export of nat2 ural gas to a foreign country, with re3 spect to an LNG terminal that does 

4 not so export natural gas as of the 

5 date of submission of the proposal; or 

6 ‘‘(II) to increase the quantity of 

7 natural gas exported to a foreign 

8 country by the LNG terminal, with 

9 respect to an LNG terminal that ex10 ports natural gas as of the date of 

11 submission of the proposal. 

12 ‘‘(ii) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Sec13 retary’ means the Secretary of Energy, 

14 acting through the Assistant Secretary for 

15 Fossil Energy pursuant to sections 301(b) 

16 and 402(f) of the Department of Energy 

17 Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7151(b), 

18 7172(f)). 

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

21 part 590 of title 10, Code of Federal Regu22 lations (or successor regulations), or any 

23 other provision of law (including regula24 tions), effective beginning on the date de25 scribed in clause (ii), the Secretary may 


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1 not take into consideration or approve any 

2 additional export proposal. 

3 ‘‘(ii) DESCRIPTION OF DATE.—The 

4 date referred to in clause (i) is the date on 

5 which the Secretary determines that the 

6 total quantity of natural gas cumulatively 

7 exported by fully permitted LNG terminals 

8 is at least equal to 8 billion cubic feet per 

9 day.’’. 

Æ 


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