926
(B) persons involved in the siting of oil, 
gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electric trans-
mission facilities; and 
(C) other interested members of the public. 
(3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of Agriculture shall limit the dis-
tribution of the report and Geographic Information 
System-based information referred to in paragraph 
(1) as necessary for national and infrastructure se-
curity reasons, if either Secretary determines that 
the information may be withheld from public disclo-
sure under a national security or other exception 
under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 
(b) CORRIDOR DESIGNATIONS.—
(1) 11 CONTIGUOUS
WESTERN
STATES.—Not 
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary 
of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Sec-
retary of Energy, and the Secretary of the Interior, 
in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission and the affected utility industries, shall 
jointly—
(A) designate, under title V of the Federal 
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) and other applicable Fed-
927
eral laws, corridors for oil, gas, and hydrogen 
pipelines and electricity transmission and facili-
ties on Federal land in the eleven contiguous 
Western States (as defined in section 103 of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 
(B) perform any environmental reviews 
that may be required to complete the designa-
tions of corridors for the facilities on Federal 
land in the eleven contiguous Western States; 
and 
(C) incorporate the designated corridors 
into—
(i) the relevant departmental and 
agency land use and resource management 
plans; or 
(ii) equivalent plans. 
(2) OTHER STATES.—Not later than 4 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, 
the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, 
and the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
and the affected utility industries, shall jointly—
928
(A) identify corridors for oil, gas, and hy-
drogen pipelines and electricity transmission 
and distribution facilities on Federal land in the 
States other than those described in paragraph 
(1); and 
(B) schedule prompt action to identify, 
designate, and incorporate the corridors into 
the land use plan. 
(3) ONGOING
RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, 
the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, 
and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
lands under their respective jurisdictions, in con-
sultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission and the affected utility industries, shall es-
tablish procedures that—
(A) ensure that additional corridors for oil, 
gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity 
transmission and distribution facilities on Fed-
eral land are promptly identified and des-
ignated; and 
(B) expedite applications to construct or 
modify oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and 
electricity transmission and distribution facili-
ties within the corridors, taking into account
929
prior analyses and environmental reviews un-
dertaken during the designation of corridors. 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out this section, 
the Secretaries shall take into account the need for up-
graded and new electricity transmission and distribution 
facilities to—
(1) improve reliability; 
(2) relieve congestion; and 
(3) enhance the capability of the national grid 
to deliver electricity. 
(d) DEFINITION OF CORRIDOR.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section and title V of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.), the term ‘‘corridor’’ 
means—
(A) a linear strip of land—
(i) with a width determined with con-
sideration given to technological, environ-
mental, and topographical factors; and 
(ii) that contains, or may in the fu-
ture contain, 1 or more utility, communica-
tion, or transportation facilities; 
(B) a land use designation that is estab-
lished—
(i) by law;
930
(ii) by Secretarial Order; 
(iii) through the land use planning 
process; or 
(iv) by other management decision; 
and 
(C) a designation made for the purpose of 
establishing the preferred location of compatible 
linear facilities and land uses. 
(2) SPECIFICATIONS
OF
CORRIDOR.—On des-
ignation of a corridor under this section, the center-
line, width, and compatible uses of a corridor shall 
be specified. 
SEC. 2031. CONSULTATION REGARDING ENERGY RIGHTS-
OF-WAY ON PUBLIC LAND. 
(a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary 
of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 
Secretary of Defense with respect to lands under 
their respective jurisdictions, shall enter into a 
memorandum of understanding to coordinate all ap-
plicable Federal authorizations and environmental 
reviews relating to a proposed or existing utility fa-
cility. To the maximum extent practicable under ap-
931
plicable law, the Secretary of Energy shall, to ensure 
timely review and permit decisions, coordinate such 
authorizations and reviews with any Indian tribes, 
multi-State entities, and State agencies that are re-
sponsible for conducting any separate permitting 
and environmental reviews of the affected utility fa-
cility. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The memorandum of under-
standing shall include provisions that—
(A) establish—
(i) a unified right-of-way application 
form; and 
(ii) an administrative procedure for 
processing right-of-way applications, in-
cluding lines of authority, steps in applica-
tion processing, and timeframes for appli-
cation processing; 
(B) provide for coordination of planning 
relating to the granting of the rights-of-way; 
(C) provide for an agreement among the 
affected Federal agencies to prepare a single 
environmental review document to be used as 
the basis for all Federal authorization decisions; 
and
932
(D) provide for coordination of use of 
right-of-way stipulations to achieve consistency. 
(b) NATURAL GAS PIPELINES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to permitting 
activities for interstate natural gas pipelines, the 
May 2002 document entitled ‘‘Interagency Agree-
ment On Early Coordination Of Required Environ-
mental And Historic Preservation Reviews Con-
ducted In Conjunction With The Issuance Of Au-
thorizations To Construct And Operate Interstate 
Natural Gas Pipelines Certificated By The Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission’’ shall constitute 
compliance with subsection (a). 
(2) REPORT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter, agencies that are sig-
natories to the document referred to in para-
graph (1) shall transmit to Congress a report 
on how the agencies under the jurisdiction of 
the Secretaries are incorporating and imple-
menting the provisions of the document referred 
to in paragraph (1). 
(B) CONTENTS.—The report shall ad-
dress—
933
(i) efforts to implement the provisions 
of the document referred to in paragraph 
(1); 
(ii) whether the efforts have had a 
streamlining effect; 
(iii) further improvements to the per-
mitting process of the agency; and 
(iv) recommendations for inclusion of 
State and tribal governments in a coordi-
nated permitting process. 
(c) DEFINITION OF UTILITY FACILITY.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘utility facility’’ means any privately, pub-
licly, or cooperatively owned line, facility, or system—
(1) for the transportation of—
(A) oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid fuel, 
or gaseous fuel; 
(B) any refined product produced from oil, 
natural gas, synthetic liquid fuel, or gaseous 
fuel; or 
(C) products in support of the production 
of material referred to in subparagraph (A) or 
(B); 
(2) for storage and terminal facilities in connec-
tion with the production of material referred to in 
paragraph (1); or