II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1155 

To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of natural 

gas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and 

importation 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 ‘‘License Natural Gas 

5 Now Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘LNG Now Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the exportation of natural gas produced in 

9 the United States is in the interest of the United 

10 States; and 


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1 (2) because natural gas produced in the United 

2 States has a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile 

3 than other energy sources used in high volumes in 

4 other countries, the exportation of natural gas from 

5 the United States may help lower global emissions of 

6 carbon dioxide. 

7 SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the section heading and all that 

11 follows through ‘‘(a) After’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL 

14 GAS; LNG TERMINALS. 

15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION TO EXPORT OR IMPORT NAT16 URAL GAS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)— 

20 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

21 ‘‘, unless,’’ and all that follows through the 

22 period at the end of the sentence and in23 serting ‘‘without modification or delay.’’; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘by its order’’ and all that follows through 

3 the period at the end of the sentence and 

4 inserting ‘‘condition the order on a require5 ment that the applicant, on request, pro6 vide relevant data to the Commission to fa7 cilitate the information collection and sta8 tistical activities of the Commission.’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTING NAT12 URAL GAS IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION.— 

13 Except as provided in paragraph (1) and sub14 paragraph (C) or in any Federal authorization 

15 to export natural gas from the United States to 

16 a foreign country or to import natural gas into 

17 the United States from a foreign country in ef18 fect on the date of enactment of the LNG Now 

19 Act of 2019, to promote the efficient explo20 ration, production, storage, supply, marketing, 

21 pricing, and regulation of energy resources, in22 cluding fossil fuels, no employee of the Federal 

23 Government shall impose or enforce any restric24 tion or condition on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the exportation of natural gas 

2 from the United States to a foreign coun3 try; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the importation of natural gas 

5 into the United States from a foreign 

6 country. 

7 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF IMPORTED NATURAL

8 GAS.—The Commission shall not treat, on the 

9 basis of national origin, any imported natural 

10 gas on an unjust, unreasonable, unduly dis11 criminatory, or preferential basis. 

12 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON IMPORT FROM OR

13 EXPORT TO CERTAIN NATIONS.—The export of 

14 natural gas to, or the import of natural gas 

15 from, a nation subject to sanctions imposed by 

16 the United States is prohibited. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF EXPORTED NATURAL

18 GAS AS A FIRST SALE.—The exportation of natural 

19 gas to a foreign country from the United States 

20 shall be considered to be a first sale (as defined in 

21 section 2 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (15 

22 U.S.C. 3301)).’’; 

23 (3) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and 

24 (4) by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) 

25 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 


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1 (b) EFFECT.—The amendments made by subsection 

2 (a) shall not affect any Federal authorization to export 

3 natural gas from the United States to a foreign country 

4 or to import natural gas into the United States from a 

5 foreign country in effect on the date of enactment of this 

6 Act. 

7 SEC. 4. REPORT ON FOSTERING NATURAL GAS EXPORTS. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Con10 gress a report describing actions taken by the United 

11 States Government, and actions that could be taken by 

12 the United States Government, to foster the exportation 

13 of natural gas from the United States to foreign countries. 

14 SEC. 5. REPORT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Con17 gress a report that identifies regulations in effect as of 

18 such date of enactment that inhibit the growth of the mar19 ket for natural gas exported from the United States. 

Æ 


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