I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2649 
To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to apply certain proce-
dures before granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity 
for a proposed pipeline project, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 24, 2017 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 
apply certain procedures before granting a certificate 
of public convenience and necessity for a proposed pipe-
line project, 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 ‘‘Safe and Accountable 
Federal Energy Review for Pipelines Act of 2017’’ or the 
‘‘Safer Pipelines Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF NEW NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. 
Section 7(e) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 
717f(e)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Except in the 
cases’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) Before granting a certificate for a proposed 
pipeline expansion project for which an impacted State or 
political subdivision or intervener has raised a challenge 
to the project’s public necessity based upon factors that 
the Commission is required to consider including FERC 
Statement of Policy (88 FERC 61,227) modified by 89 
FERC 61,040, further clarified by 90 FERC 61,128, the 
Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) assign the application to an administrative 
law judge who shall, as appropriate— 
‘‘(i) hold a full trial-type evidentiary hear-
ing on any contested issue of need for the ex-
pansion; or 
‘‘(ii) conduct for an evidentiary hearing 
after conducting limited discovery; and 
‘‘(B) issue a staff report publishing the findings 
with respect to each factor which includes the data 
and analyses relied upon in reaching those findings. 
‘‘(3) The Commission shall conduct a cumulative re-
view of major energy infrastructure projects planned 
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throughout the region of the expansion, their purported 
purpose and need, and their prospective impacts on State 
and regional energy goals, which shall be updated regu-
larly, but no less than every five years, and that con-
siders— 
‘‘(A) the existence of underutilized or inefficient 
use of existing pipeline capacity; 
‘‘(B) the effect of approval on existing cus-
tomers of other pipelines; 
‘‘(C) an analysis of demonstrated regional needs 
for the additional natural gas, including consider-
ation of the existence of precedent contracts; 
‘‘(D) compatibility with the State’s clean power 
plan, renewable energy goals, and renewable port-
folio standard; 
‘‘(E) the region’s ability to meet any deficiency 
in energy needs through energy efficiency, dual fuel 
sources, LNG storage, or other economically viable 
and less environmentally disruptive measures than 
additional pipeline infrastructure; 
‘‘(F) Federal renewable energy goals; and 
‘‘(G) the need for the proposed project in rela-
tion to this regional analysis. 
‘‘(4) In the case of an interstate natural gas pipeline 
project, for purposes of the National Environmental Policy 
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