I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6378 
To confirm and clarify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s obliga-
tion to assess and mitigate the impacts to climate change and environ-
mental justice communities from projects approved pursuant to the Nat-
ural Gas Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2025 
Mr. CASTEN (for himself, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mr. GOLDMAN of New York) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To confirm and clarify the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission’s obligation to assess and mitigate the impacts 
to climate change and environmental justice communities 
from projects approved pursuant to 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 ‘‘FERC Greenhouse Gas 
and Environmental Justice Policy Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. GREENHOUSE GAS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 
POLICY. 
(a) MITIGATION PROPOSAL.—Section 7(d) of the 
Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(d)) is amended by in-
serting ‘‘, including a mitigation proposal described in sub-
section (i)(3),’’ after ‘‘contain such information’’. 
(b) PRESENT
OR FUTURE PUBLIC CONVENIENCE 
AND NECESSITY DETERMINATION.—Section 7 of the Nat-
ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(i) PRESENT OR FUTURE PUBLIC CONVENIENCE 
AND NECESSITY DETERMINATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In finding whether a pro-
posed action, to the extent that may be authorized 
by a certificate, is or will be required by the present 
or future public convenience and necessity under 
subsection (e), the Commission shall determine 
whether— 
‘‘(A) the environmental effects of such pro-
posed action, including any effects relating to 
the environment of such proposed action on en-
vironmental justice communities, are signifi-
cant, and if such significant environmental ef-
fects, if any, can be mitigated pursuant to a 
mitigation proposal required under subsection 
(d); 
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‘‘(B) the significant environmental effects 
of the proposed action outweigh the benefits of 
the proposed action under paragraph (4); and 
‘‘(C) the proposed action is necessary to 
ensure energy reliability and affordability. 
‘‘(2) 
SIGNIFICANT
ENVIRONMENTAL
EF-
FECTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In determining wheth-
er the environmental effects of a proposed ac-
tion are significant under paragraph (1)(A), the 
Commission shall, with respect to such pro-
posed action— 
‘‘(i) evaluate such environmental ef-
fects on environmental justice communities 
under subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(ii) quantify reasonably foreseeable 
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from 
such proposed action under subparagraph 
(C). 
‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE
COMMU-
NITIES.—The Commission shall evaluate the ef-
fects of a proposed action on environmental jus-
tice communities based on all evidence in the 
record, including— 
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‘‘(i) existing environmental and public 
health stressors; 
‘‘(ii) any adverse environmental and 
public health stressors resulting from the 
proposed action; 
‘‘(iii) the presence or absence of ad-
verse cumulative stressors; 
‘‘(iv) potential environmental and pub-
lic health stressors associated with the pro-
posed action; and 
‘‘(v) other factors, as identified by the 
Commission and the affected environ-
mental justice communities following a 
meaningful opportunity for public engage-
ment by those communities. 
‘‘(C) QUANTIFICATION
OF
GREENHOUSE 
GAS EMISSIONS.—The Commission shall quan-
tify reasonably foreseeable greenhouse gas emis-
sions resulting from a proposed action based on 
all evidence in the record, including— 
‘‘(i) the projected capacity of the rel-
evant pipelines to transport natural gas; 
‘‘(ii) the projected utilization rate of 
the relevant pipelines; 
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‘‘(iii) the construction and operation 
of the proposed action; 
‘‘(iv) the projected downstream green-
house gas emissions and effects, including 
cumulative effects, including on environ-
mental justice communities, resulting from 
the proposed action, including those result-
ing from the combustion of the natural 
gas; 
‘‘(v) the projected upstream green-
house gas emissions and effects, including 
cumulative effects, including on environ-
mental justice communities, resulting from 
the proposed action, including those result-
ing from leakage or other release of the 
natural gas; and 
‘‘(vi) other factors, as identified by 
the Commission. 
‘‘(D) THRESHOLD.—For purposes of de-
termining whether the environmental effects of 
a proposed action are significant under this 
paragraph, the Commission shall— 
‘‘(i) with respect to environmental ef-
fects described in subparagraph (B), con-
sider that— 
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‘‘(I) no community should bear a 
disproportionate share of the adverse 
environmental and public health con-
sequences that results from the Com-
mission approving an application for a 
certificate of public convenience or ne-
cessity; and 
‘‘(II) it is in the public interest 
for the Commission, where appro-
priate, to limit the future placement 
and expansion of a proposed action in 
environmental 
justice 
communities; 
and 
‘‘(ii) with respect to quantifying 
greenhouse gas emissions under subpara-
graph (C), presume— 
‘‘(I) a proposed action that has 
reasonably foreseeable emissions of at 
least 100,000 metric tons per year of 
carbon dioxide equivalent to have a 
significant effect on climate change; 
and 
‘‘(II) greenhouse gases other that 
carbon dioxide shall be converted to 
carbon dioxide equivalent using the 
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20-year global warming potentials 
from the most recent assessment re-
port published by the Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change. 
‘‘(3) MITIGATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under subsection (d), 
the Commission shall require an applicant for a 
certificate to submit a proposal with the appli-
cable application that details how the applicant 
will mitigate all or a portion of the environ-
mental effects of the proposed action, including 
on climate change and environmental justice 
communities. 
‘‘(B) CONDITIONS.—Upon reviewing the 
mitigation proposal under subparagraph (A), 
the Commission shall, to the extent practicable, 
attach to the issuance of a certificate, and to 
the exercise of the rights granted thereunder, 
conditions that require the holder of such cer-
tificate to address any potential adverse effects 
of any action authorized under such certificate 
on climate change and environmental justice 
communities. 
‘‘(C) 
ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENT.—For 
any proposed action the Commission approves 
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for which it does not require conditions that 
mitigate or offset the significant environmental 
effects of the proposed action to below the sig-
nificance threshold described in paragraph 
(2)(D), the Commission shall provide a detailed 
explanation as to why such mitigation is not 
practicable. 
‘‘(4) WEIGHING.— 
‘‘(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—Under 
paragraph 
(1)(B), the Commission shall weigh all environ-
mental effects, including significant environ-
mental effects, to the extent any significant en-
vironmental effects can be practicably mitigated 
under the threshold described in paragraph 
(2)(D) and determine whether the benefits of 
the proposed action outweigh such environ-
mental effects. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—In the event the Com-
mission finds that the proposed action is or will 
be required by the present or future public con-
venience and necessity under subsection (e) de-
spite any significant environmental effects that 
cannot be practicably mitigated, the Commis-
sion shall provide a detailed explanation as to 
why the Commission finds the proposed action 
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to be nevertheless required by the present or fu-
ture public convenience and necessity. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) CERTIFICATE.—The term ‘certificate’ 
means a certificate of public convenience and 
necessity described in subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) 
ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFECT.—The 
term ‘environmental effect’ means an effect 
caused by a proposed action on the environment 
and climate change. 
‘‘(C) ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE
COMMU-
NITY.—The term ‘environmental justice com-
munity’ means any population of color, commu-
nity of color, indigenous community, or low-in-
come community that experiences a dispropor-
tionate burden of the negative human health 
and environmental impacts of pollution or other 
environmental hazards. 
‘‘(D) PROPOSED ACTION.—The term ‘pro-
posed action’ means a proposed service, sale, 
operation, construction, extension, or acquisi-
tion, as described in subsection (e), in an appli-
cation for a certificate.’’. 
Æ 
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