II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2823 

To require approval for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural gas pipelines or electric transmission facilities 

at the national boundary of the United States for the import or export 

of oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada or Mexico, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. DONNELLY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. 

MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require approval for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural gas pipelines 

or electric transmission facilities at the national boundary of the United States for the import or export of 

oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada or 

Mexico, 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 ‘‘North American En5 ergy Infrastructure Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDING. 

2 Congress finds that the United States should estab3 lish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process for 

4 the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance 

5 of oil and natural gas pipelines and electric transmission 

6 facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas 

7 and the transmission of electricity to and from Canada 

8 and Mexico, in pursuit of a more secure and efficient 

9 North American energy market. 

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA11 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT THE NATIONAL 

12 BOUNDARY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in sub14 section (c) and section 7, no person may construct, con15 nect, operate, or maintain a cross-border segment of an 

16 oil pipeline or electric transmission facility for the import 

17 or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from 

18 Canada or Mexico without obtaining a certificate of cross19 ing for the construction, connection, operation, or mainte20 nance of the cross-border segment under this section. 

21 (b) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 

22 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

23 after final action is taken under the National Envi24 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

25 seq.) with respect to a cross-border segment for 

26 which a request is received under this section, the 


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1 relevant official identified under paragraph (2), in 

2 consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

3 issue a certificate of crossing for the cross-border 

4 segment unless the relevant official finds that the 

5 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

6 of the cross-border segment is not in the public in7 terest of the United States. 

8 (2) RELEVANT OFFICIAL.—The relevant official 

9 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 

10 (A) the Secretary of State with respect to 

11 oil pipelines; and 

12 (B) the Secretary of Energy with respect 

13 to electric transmission facilities. 

14 (3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTRIC

15 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the case of a request 

16 for a certificate of crossing for the construction, con17 nection, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border 

18 segment of an electric transmission facility, the Sec19 retary of Energy shall require, as a condition of 

20 issuing the certificate of crossing for the request 

21 under paragraph (1), that the cross-border segment 

22 of the electric transmission facility be constructed, 

23 connected, operated, or maintained consistent with 

24 all applicable policies and standards of— 


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1 (A) the Electric Reliability Organization 

2 and the applicable regional entity; and 

3 (B) any Regional Transmission Organiza4 tion or Independent System Operator with 

5 operational or functional control over the cross6 border segment of the electric transmission fa7 cility. 

8 (c) EXCLUSIONS.—This section shall not apply to any 

9 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of a 

10 cross-border segment of an oil pipeline or electric trans11 mission facility for the import or export of oil or the trans12 mission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico— 

13 (1) if the cross-border segment is operating for 

14 such import, export, or transmission as of the date 

15 of enactment of this Act; 

16 (2) if a permit described in section 6 for such 

17 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

18 has been issued; 

19 (3) if a certificate of crossing for such construc20 tion, connection, operation, or maintenance has pre21 viously been issued under this section; or 

22 (4) if an application for a permit described in 

23 section 6 for such construction, connection, oper24 ation, or maintenance is pending on the date of en25 actment of this Act, until the earlier of— 


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1 (A) the date on which such application is 

2 denied; or 

3 (B) July 1, 2016. 

4 (d) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

5 (1) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing in 

6 this section or section 7 shall affect the application 

7 of any other Federal statute to a project for which 

8 a certificate of crossing for the construction, connec9 tion, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border 

10 segment is sought under this section. 

11 (2) ENERGY POLICY AND CONSERVATION

12 ACT.—Nothing in this section or section 7 shall af13 fect the authority of the President under section 

14 103(a) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. 

15 SEC. 4. IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS 

16 TO CANADA AND MEXICO. 

17 Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 717b(c)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking, ‘‘For purposes of subsection (a) 

20 of this section’’ and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

22 (a)’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICA25 TIONS RELATING TO CANADA AND MEXICO.—In the 


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1 case of an application for the importation or expor2 tation of natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico, 

3 the Commission shall approve the application not 

4 later than 30 days after the date of receipt of the 

5 application.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CANADA 

7 AND MEXICO. 

8 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE

9 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) of 

13 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State regula15 tion does not conflict with the exercise of the Com16 mission’s powers under or relating to subsection 

17 202(e)’’. 

18 (2) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY EX19 CHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Utility Reg20 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a–4(b)) 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘the Commission has con22 ducted hearings and made the findings required 

23 under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act’’ and 

24 all that follows through the period at the end and 

25 inserting ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 


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1 finds that the proposed transmission facilities would 

2 not impair the sufficiency of electric supply within 

3 the United States or would not impede or tend to 

4 impede the coordination in the public interest of fa5 cilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED. 

7 No Presidential permit (or similar permit) required 

8 under Executive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), 

9 Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 

10 301 of title 3, United States Code, Executive Order No. 

11 12038, Executive Order No. 10485, or any other Execu12 tive order shall be necessary for the construction, connec13 tion, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas 

14 pipeline or electric transmission facility, or any cross-bor15 der segment thereof. 

16 SEC. 7. MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS. 

17 No certificate of crossing under section 3, or permit 

18 described in section 6, shall be required for a modification 

19 to the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

20 of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission 

21 facility— 

22 (1) that is operating for the import or export 

23 of oil or natural gas or the transmission of elec24 tricity to or from Canada or Mexico as of the date 

25 of enactment of the Act; 


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1 (2) for which a permit described in section 6 for 

2 such construction, connection, operation, or mainte3 nance has been issued; or 

4 (3) for which a certificate of crossing for the 

5 cross-border segment of the pipeline or facility has 

6 previously been issued under section 3. 

7 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES. 

8 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 3 through 7, and 

9 the amendments made by such sections, shall take effect 

10 on July 1, 2015. 

11 (b) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant offi12 cial described in section 3(b)(2) shall— 

13 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Reg15 ister notice of a proposed rulemaking to carry out 

16 the applicable requirements of section 3; and 

17 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en18 actment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register 

19 a final rule to carry out the applicable requirements 

20 of section 3. 

21 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act— 

23 (1) the term ‘‘cross-border segment’’ means the 

24 portion of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

25 transmission facility that is located at the national 


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1 boundary of the United States with either Canada or 

2 Mexico; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘modification’’ includes a change 

4 in ownership, volume expansion, downstream or up5 stream interconnection, or adjustment to maintain 

6 flow (such as a reduction or increase in the number 

7 of pump or compressor stations); 

8 (3) the term ‘‘natural gas’’ has the meaning 

9 given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 717a); 

11 (4) the term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or a petro12 leum product; 

13 (5) the terms ‘‘Electric Reliability Organiza14 tion’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the meanings given 

15 those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act 

16 (16 U.S.C. 824o); and 

17 (6) the terms ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ 

18 and ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ have the 

19 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Fed20 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

Æ 


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