IB 

Union Calendar No. 217 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2295 

[Report No. 114–285] 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require the Secretary of the Interior 

to identify and designate National Energy Security Corridors for the 

construction of natural gas pipelines on Federal land, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2015 

Mr. MACARTHUR (for himself and Mr. RICHMOND) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. TURNER, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 

MCKINLEY, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. PERRY, Mr. 

WESTERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. ROTHFUS

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 13, 2015] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require the Secretary 

of the Interior to identify and designate National Energy 

Security Corridors for the construction of natural gas 

pipelines on Federal land, 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 ‘‘National Energy Secu5 rity Corridors Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY 

7 CORRIDORS ON FEDERAL LANDS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 28 of the Mineral Leasing 

9 Act (30 U.S.C. 185) is amended as follows: 

10 (1) In subsection (b)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(b)(1) For the purposes of 

12 this section ‘Federal lands’ means’’ and inserting 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(b)(1) For the purposes of this section ‘Federal 

15 lands’— 

16 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

17 means’’; 

18 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

19 paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘; and’’ and by 

20 adding at the end of paragraph (1) the following: 

21 ‘‘(B) for purposes of granting an application for 

22 a natural gas pipeline right-of-way, means all lands 

23 owned by the United States except— 

24 ‘‘(i) such lands held in trust for an Indian 

25 or Indian tribe; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) lands on the Outer Continental 

2 Shelf.’’. 

3 (2) By redesignating subsection (b), as so 

4 amended, as subsection (z), and transferring such sub5 section to appear after subsection (y) of that section. 

6 (3) By inserting after subsection (a) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY CORRIDORS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—In addition to other au10 thorities under this section, the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) identify and designate suitable Federal 

12 lands as National Energy Security Corridors (in 

13 this subsection referred to as a ‘Corridor’), which 

14 shall be used for construction, operation, and 

15 maintenance of natural gas transmission facili16 ties; and 

17 ‘‘(B) incorporate such Corridors upon des18 ignation into the relevant agency land use and 

19 resource management plans or equivalent plans. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In evaluating Federal 

21 lands for designation as a National Energy Security 

22 Corridor, the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) employ the principle of multiple use to 

24 ensure route decisions balance national energy 

25 security needs with existing land use principles; 


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1 ‘‘(B) seek input from other Federal counter2 parts, State, local, and tribal governments, and 

3 affected utility and pipeline industries to deter4 mine the best suitable, most cost-effective, and 

5 commercially viable acreage for natural gas 

6 transmission facilities; 

7 ‘‘(C) focus on transmission routes that im8 prove domestic energy security through increas9 ing reliability, relieving congestion, reducing 

10 natural gas prices, and meeting growing demand 

11 for natural gas; and 

12 ‘‘(D) take into account technological inno13 vations that reduce the need for surface disturb14 ance. 

15 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall estab16 lish procedures to expedite and approve applications 

17 for rights-of-way for natural gas pipelines across Na18 tional Energy Security Corridors, that— 

19 ‘‘(A) ensure a transparent process for re20 view of applications for rights-of-way on such 

21 corridors; 

22 ‘‘(B) require an approval time of not more 

23 than 1 year after the date of receipt of an appli24 cation for a right-of-way; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) require, upon receipt of such an appli2 cation, notice to the applicant of a predictable 

3 timeline for consideration of the application, 

4 that clearly delineates important milestones in 

5 the process of such consideration. 

6 ‘‘(4) STATE INPUT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS AUTHORIZED.—The Gov8 ernor of a State may submit requests to the Sec9 retary of the Interior to designate Corridors on 

10 Federal land in that State. 

11 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS.—After 

12 receiving such a request, the Secretary shall re13 spond in writing, within 30 days— 

14 ‘‘(i) acknowledging receipt of the re15 quest; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) setting forth a timeline in which 

17 the Secretary shall grant, deny, or modify 

18 such request and state the reasons for doing 

19 so. 

20 ‘‘(5) SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CORRIDORS.—In 

21 implementing this subsection, the Secretary shall co22 ordinate with other Federal Departments to— 

23 ‘‘(A) minimize the proliferation of duplica24 tive natural gas pipeline rights-of-way on Fed25 eral lands where feasible; 


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1 ‘‘(B) ensure Corridors can connect effec2 tively across Federal lands; and 

3 ‘‘(C) utilize input from utility and pipeline 

4 industries submitting applications for rights-of5 way to site corridors in economically feasible 

6 areas that reduce impacts, to the extent prac7 ticable, on local communities. 

8 ‘‘(6) NOT A MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.—Designa9 tion of a Corridor under this subsection, and incorpo10 ration of Corridors into agency plans under para11 graph (1)(B), shall not be treated as a major Federal 

12 action for purpose of section 102 of the National En13 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

14 ‘‘(7) NO LIMIT ON NUMBER OR LENGTH OF COR15 RIDORS.—Nothing in this subsection limits the num16 ber or physical dimensions of Corridors that the Sec17 retary may designate under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(8) OTHER AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.—Noth19 ing in this subsection affects the authority of the Sec20 retary to issue rights-of-way on Federal land that is 

21 not located in a Corridor designated under this sub22 section. 

23 ‘‘(9) NEPA CLARIFICATION.—All applications 

24 for rights-of-way for natural gas transmission facili25 ties across Corridors designated under this subsection 


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1 shall be subject to the environmental protections out2 lined in subsection (h).’’. 

3 (b) APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BEFORE DESIGNATION

4 OF CORRIDORS.—Any application for a right-of-way under 

5 section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) that 

6 is received by the Secretary of the Interior before designa7 tion of National Energy Security Corridors under the 

8 amendment made by subsection (a) of this section shall be 

9 reviewed and acted upon independently by the Secretary 

10 without regard to the process for such designation. 

11 (c) DEADLINE.—Within 2 years after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

13 designate at least 10 National Energy Security Corridors 

14 under the amendment made by subsection (a) in contiguous 

15 States referred to in section 368(b) of the Energy Policy 

16 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15926(b)). 

17 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

18 The Secretary of the Interior shall promptly notify the 

19 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Represent20 atives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

21 of the Senate of each instance in which any agency or offi22 cial of the Department of the Interior fails to comply with 

23 any schedule established under section 15(c) of the Natural 

24 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717n(c)). 


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Union Calendar No. 217 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2295 

[Report No. 114–285] 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require the 

eral land, and for other purposes. the construction of natural gas pipelines on Fedignate National Energy Security Corridors for Secretary of the Interior to identify and desOCTOBER 6, 2015 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS