I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1616 
To provide for Federal and State agency coordination in the approval of 
certain authorizations under the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2021 
Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for Federal and State agency coordination in 
the approval of certain authorizations under the Natural 
Gas Act, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Interagency 
Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FERC PROCESS COORDINATION FOR NATURAL GAS 
PIPELINE PROJECTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 
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(2) 
FEDERAL
AUTHORIZATION.—The 
term 
‘‘Federal authorization’’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 15(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 
U.S.C. 717n(a)). 
(3) NEPA REVIEW.—The term ‘‘NEPA review’’ 
means the process of reviewing a proposed Federal 
action under section 102 of the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 
(4) PROJECT-RELATED
NEPA
REVIEW.—The 
term ‘‘project-related NEPA review’’ means any 
NEPA review required to be conducted with respect 
to the issuance of an authorization under section 3 
of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con-
venience and necessity under section 7 of such Act. 
(b) COMMISSION
NEPA REVIEW
RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES.—In acting as the lead agency under section 
15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act for the purposes of com-
plying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to an author-
ization under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certifi-
cate of public convenience and necessity under section 7 
of such Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with this 
section and other applicable Federal law— 
(1) be the only lead agency; 
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(2) coordinate as early as practicable with each 
agency designated as a participating agency under 
subsection (d)(3) to ensure that the Commission de-
velops information in conducting its project-related 
NEPA review that is usable by the participating 
agency in considering an aspect of an application for 
a Federal authorization for which the agency is re-
sponsible; and 
(3) take such actions as are necessary and 
proper to facilitate the expeditious resolution of its 
project-related NEPA review. 
(c) DEFERENCE TO COMMISSION.—In making a deci-
sion with respect to a Federal authorization required with 
respect to an application for authorization under section 
3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public conven-
ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act, each agen-
cy shall give deference, to the maximum extent authorized 
by law, to the scope of the project-related NEPA review 
that the Commission determines to be appropriate. 
(d) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 
(1) IDENTIFICATION.—The Commission shall 
identify, as early as practicable after it is notified by 
a person applying for an authorization under section 
3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 
convenience and necessity under section 7 of such 
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Act, any Federal or State agency, local government, 
or Indian Tribe that may issue a Federal authoriza-
tion or is required by Federal law to consult with 
the Commission in conjunction with the issuance of 
a Federal authorization required for such authoriza-
tion or certificate. 
(2) INVITATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
invite any agency identified under paragraph 
(1) to participate in the review process for the 
applicable Federal authorization. 
(B) 
DEADLINE.—An 
invitation 
issued 
under subparagraph (A) shall establish a dead-
line by which a response to the invitation shall 
be submitted to the Commission, which may be 
extended by the Commission for good cause. 
(3) DESIGNATION
AS
PARTICIPATING
AGEN-
CIES.—The Commission shall designate an agency 
identified under paragraph (1) as a participating 
agency with respect to an application for authoriza-
tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity under 
section 7 of such Act unless the agency informs the 
Commission, in writing, by the deadline established 
pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), that the agency— 
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(A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 
respect to the applicable Federal authorization; 
(B) has no special expertise or information 
relevant to any project-related NEPA review; or 
(C) does not intend to submit comments 
for the record for the project-related NEPA re-
view conducted by the Commission. 
(4) EFFECT OF NON-DESIGNATION.— 
(A) EFFECT
ON
AGENCY.—Any agency 
that is not designated as a participating agency 
under paragraph (3) with respect to an applica-
tion for an authorization under section 3 of the 
Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con-
venience and necessity under section 7 of such 
Act may not request or conduct a NEPA review 
that is supplemental to the project-related 
NEPA review conducted by the Commission, 
unless the agency— 
(i) demonstrates that such review is 
legally necessary for the agency to carry 
out responsibilities in considering an as-
pect of an application for a Federal au-
thorization; and 
(ii) requires information that could 
not have been obtained during the project- 
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related NEPA review conducted by the 
Commission. 
(B) COMMENTS; RECORD.—The Commis-
sion shall not, with respect to an agency that is 
not designated as a participating agency under 
paragraph (3) with respect to an application for 
an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 
Gas Act or a certificate of public convenience 
and necessity under section 7 of such Act— 
(i) consider any comments or other in-
formation submitted by such agency for 
the project-related NEPA review conducted 
by the Commission; or 
(ii) include any such comments or 
other information in the record for such 
project-related NEPA review. 
(e) SCHEDULE.— 
(1) DEADLINE
FOR
FEDERAL
AUTHORIZA-
TIONS.—A deadline for a Federal authorization re-
quired with respect to an application for authoriza-
tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity under 
section 7 of such Act set by the Commission under 
section 15(c)(1) of such Act shall be not later than 
90 days after the Commission completes its project- 
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related NEPA review, unless an applicable schedule 
is otherwise established by Federal law. 
(2) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal and 
State agency— 
(A) that may consider an application for a 
Federal authorization required with respect to 
an application for authorization under section 3 
of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 
convenience and necessity under section 7 of 
such Act shall formulate and implement a plan 
for administrative, policy, and procedural mech-
anisms to enable the agency to ensure comple-
tion of Federal authorizations in compliance 
with schedules established by the Commission 
under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; and 
(B) in considering an aspect of an applica-
tion for a Federal authorization required with 
respect to an application for authorization 
under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity 
under section 7 of such Act, shall— 
(i) formulate and implement a plan to 
enable the agency to comply with the 
schedule established by the Commission 
under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; 
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(ii) carry out the obligations of that 
agency under applicable law concurrently, 
and in conjunction with, the project-related 
NEPA review conducted by the Commis-
sion, and in compliance with the schedule 
established by the Commission under sec-
tion 15(c)(1) of such Act, unless the agen-
cy notifies the Commission in writing that 
doing so would impair the ability of the 
agency to conduct needed analysis or oth-
erwise carry out such obligations; 
(iii) transmit to the Commission a 
statement— 
(I) acknowledging receipt of the 
schedule established by the Commis-
sion under section 15(c)(1) of the 
Natural Gas Act; and 
(II) setting forth the plan formu-
lated under clause (i) of this subpara-
graph; 
(iv) not later than 30 days after the 
agency receives such application for a Fed-
eral authorization, transmit to the appli-
cant a notice— 
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(I) indicating whether such appli-
cation is ready for processing; and 
(II) if such application is not 
ready for processing, that includes a 
comprehensive description of the in-
formation needed for the agency to 
determine that the application is 
ready for processing; 
(v) determine that such application 
for a Federal authorization is ready for 
processing for purposes of clause (iv) if 
such application is sufficiently complete for 
the purposes of commencing consideration, 
regardless of whether supplemental infor-
mation is necessary to enable the agency to 
complete the consideration required by law 
with respect to such application; and 
(vi) not less often than once every 90 
days, transmit to the Commission a report 
describing the progress made in consid-
ering such application for a Federal au-
thorization. 
(3) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If a Fed-
eral or State agency, including the Commission, fails 
to meet a deadline for a Federal authorization set 
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forth in the schedule established by the Commission 
under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act, not 
later than 5 days after such deadline, the head of 
the relevant Federal agency (including, in the case 
of a failure by a State agency, the Federal agency 
overseeing the delegated authority) shall notify Con-
gress and the Commission of such failure and set 
forth a recommended implementation plan to ensure 
completion of the action to which such deadline ap-
plied. 
(f) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR FEDERAL 
AUTHORIZATION.— 
(1) ISSUE
IDENTIFICATION
AND
RESOLU-
TION.— 
(A) IDENTIFICATION.—Federal and State 
agencies that may consider an aspect of an ap-
plication for a Federal authorization shall iden-
tify, as early as possible, any issues of concern 
that may delay or prevent an agency from 
working with the Commission to resolve such 
issues and granting such authorization. 
(B) ISSUE RESOLUTION.—The Commission 
may forward any issue of concern identified 
under subparagraph (A) to the heads of the rel-
evant agencies (including, in the case of an 
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issue of concern that is a failure by a State 
agency, the Federal agency overseeing the dele-
gated authority, if applicable) for resolution. 
(2) REMOTE SURVEYS.—If a Federal or State 
agency considering an aspect of an application for a 
Federal authorization requires the person applying 
for such authorization to submit data, the agency 
shall consider any such data gathered by aerial or 
other remote means that the person submits. The 
agency may grant a conditional approval for the 
Federal authorization based on data gathered by 
aerial or remote means, conditioned on the 
verification of such data by subsequent onsite in-
spection. 
(3) APPLICATION PROCESSING.—The Commis-
sion, and Federal and State agencies, may allow a 
person applying for a Federal authorization to fund 
a third-party contractor to assist in reviewing the 
application for such authorization. 
(g) 
ACCOUNTABILITY, 
TRANSPARENCY, 
EFFI-
CIENCY.—For an application for an authorization under 
section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 
convenience and necessity under section 7 of such Act that 
requires multiple Federal authorizations, the Commission, 
with input from any Federal or State agency considering 
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an aspect of the application, shall track and make avail-
able to the public on the Commission’s website information 
related to the actions required to complete the Federal au-
thorizations. Such information shall include the following: 
(1) The schedule established by the Commission 
under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act. 
(2) A list of all the actions required by each ap-
plicable agency to complete permitting, reviews, and 
other actions necessary to obtain a final decision on 
the application. 
(3) The expected completion date for each such 
action. 
(4) A point of contact at the agency responsible 
for each such action. 
(5) In the event that an action is still pending 
as of the expected date of completion, a brief expla-
nation of the reasons for the delay. 
SEC. 3. PIPELINE SECURITY. 
In considering an application for an authorization 
under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate 
of public convenience and necessity under section 7 of such 
Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall 
consult with the Administrator of the Transportation Se-
curity Administration regarding the applicant’s compli-
ance with security guidance and best practice rec-
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ommendations of the Administration regarding pipeline 
infrastructure security, pipeline cybersecurity, pipeline 
personnel security, and other pipeline security measures. 
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