I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2295 

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 

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. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY 

2 CORRIDORS ON FEDERAL LANDS. 

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

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

5 (1) In subsection (b)— 

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

7 this section ‘Federal lands’ means’’ and insert8 ing the following: 

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

10 lands’— 

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

12 means’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end of paragraph (1) 

14 the following: 

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

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

17 owned by the United States except— 

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

19 or Indian tribe; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) lands on the Outer Continental 

21 Shelf.’’. 

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

23 amended, as subsection (z), and transferring such 

24 subsection to appear after subsection (y) of that sec25 tion. 


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1 (3) By inserting after subsection (a) the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—In addition to other au5 thorities under this section, the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) identify and designate suitable Fed7 eral lands as National Energy Security Cor8 ridors (in this subsection referred to as a ‘Cor9 ridor’), which shall be used for natural gas 

10 transmission facilities; and 

11 ‘‘(B) incorporate such Corridors upon des12 ignation into the relevant agency land use and 

13 resource management plans or equivalent plans. 

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

15 lands for designation as a National Energy Security 

16 Corridor, the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) employ the principle of multiple use 

18 to ensure route decisions balance national en19 ergy security needs with existing land use prin20 ciples; 

21 ‘‘(B) seek input from other Federal coun22 terparts, State, local, and tribal governments, 

23 and affected utility and pipeline industries to 

24 determine the best suitable, most cost-effective, 


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1 and commercially viable acreage for natural gas 

2 transmission facilities; 

3 ‘‘(C) focus on transmission routes that im4 prove domestic energy security through increas5 ing reliability, relieving congestion, reducing 

6 natural gas prices, and meeting growing de7 mand for natural gas; and 

8 ‘‘(D) take into account technological inno9 vations that reduce the need for surface dis10 turbance. 

11 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish procedures to expedite and approve applications 

13 for rights-of-way for natural gas pipelines across 

14 National Energy Security Corridors, that— 

15 ‘‘(A) ensure a transparent process for re16 view of applications for rights-of-way on such 

17 corridors; 

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

19 than 1 year after the date of receipt of an ap20 plication for a right-of-way; and 

21 ‘‘(C) require, upon receipt of such an ap22 plication, notice to the applicant of a predict23 able timeline for consideration of the applica24 tion, that clearly delineates important mile25 stones in the process of such consideration. 


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1 ‘‘(4) STATE INPUT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS AUTHORIZED.—The Gov3 ernor of a State may submit a request to the 

4 Secretary of the Interior to designate a Cor5 ridor on Federal land in that State. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS.— 

7 After receiving such a request, the Secretary 

8 shall respond in writing, within 30 days— 

9 ‘‘(i) acknowledging receipt of the re10 quest; and 

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

12 the Secretary shall grant, deny, or modify 

13 such request and state the reasons for 

14 doing so. 

15 ‘‘(5) SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CORRIDORS.— 

16 In implementing this subsection, the Secretary shall 

17 coordinate with other Federal Departments to— 

18 ‘‘(A) minimize the proliferation of duplica19 tive natural gas pipeline rights-of-way on Fed20 eral lands where feasible; 

21 ‘‘(B) ensure Corridors can connect effec22 tively across Federal lands; and 

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

24 industries submitting applications for rights-of25 way to site corridors in economically feasible 


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1 areas that reduce impacts, to the extent prac2 ticable, on local communities. 

3 ‘‘(6) NOT A MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.—Des4 ignation of a Corridor under this subsection, and in5 corporation of Corridors into agency plans under 

6 paragraph (1)(B), shall not be treated as a major 

7 Federal action for purpose of section 102 of the Na8 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

9 4332). 

10 ‘‘(7) NO LIMIT ON NUMBER OR LENGTH OF

11 CORRIDORS.—Nothing in this subsection limits the 

12 number or physical dimensions of Corridors that the 

13 Secretary may designate under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(8) OTHER AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.— 

15 Nothing in this subsection affects the authority of 

16 the Secretary to issue rights-of-way on Federal land 

17 that is not located in a Corridor designated under 

18 this subsection.’’. 

19 (b) APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BEFORE DESIGNATION

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

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

22 that is received by the Secretary of the Interior before des23 ignation of National Energy Security Corridors under the 

24 amendment made by subsection (a) of this section shall 


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1 be reviewed and acted upon independently by the Sec2 retary without regard to the process for such designation. 

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

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

5 designate at least 10 National Energy Security Corridors 

6 under the amendment made by subsection (a) in contig7 uous States referred to in section 368(b) of the Energy 

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

9 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

10 The Secretary of the Interior shall promptly notify 

11 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep12 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

13 Resources of the Senate of each instance in which any 

14 agency or official of the Department of the Interior fails 

15 to comply with any schedule established under section 

16 15(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717n(c)). 

Æ 


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