I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 351 
To provide for expedited approval of exportation of natural gas, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 14, 2015 
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. TURNER, 
Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. OLSON, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, and Mr. FLORES) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for expedited approval of exportation of natural 
gas, 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 ‘‘LNG Permitting Cer-
tainty and Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 
(a) DECISION DEADLINE.—For proposals that must 
also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regu-
latory Commission or the United States Maritime Admin-
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istration to site, construct, expand, or operate LNG export 
facilities, the Department of Energy shall issue a final de-
cision on any application for the authorization to export 
natural gas under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 
U.S.C. 717b) not later than 30 days after the later of— 
(1) the conclusion of the review to site, con-
struct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities re-
quired by the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S. C. 4321 et seq.); or 
(2) the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) CONCLUSION OF REVIEW.—For purposes of sub-
section (a), review required by the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 shall be considered concluded— 
(1) for a project requiring an Environmental 
Impact Statement, 30 days after publication of a 
Final Environmental Impact Statement; 
(2) for a project for which an Environmental 
Assessment has been prepared, 30 days after publi-
cation by the Department of Energy of a Finding of 
No Significant Impact; and 
(3) upon a determination by the lead agency 
that an application is eligible for a categorical exclu-
sion pursuant National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 implementing regulations. 
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(c) JUDICIAL ACTION.—(1) The United States Court 
of Appeals for the circuit in which the export facility will 
be located pursuant to an application described in sub-
section (a) shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 
over any civil action for the review of— 
(A) an order issued by the Department of En-
ergy with respect to such application; or 
(B) the Department of Energy’s failure to issue 
a final decision on such application. 
(2) If the Court in a civil action described in para-
graph (1) finds that the Department of Energy has failed 
to issue a final decision on the application as required 
under subsection (a), the Court shall order the Depart-
ment of Energy to issue such final decision not later than 
30 days after the Court’s order. 
(3) The Court shall set any civil action brought under 
this subsection for expedited consideration and shall set 
the matter on the docket as soon as practical after the 
filing date of the initial pleading. 
SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF EXPORT DESTINATIONS. 
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF LNG EXPORT DES-
TINATIONS.—As a condition for approval of any authoriza-
tion to export LNG, the Secretary of Energy shall require 
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the applicant to publicly disclose the specific destination 
or destinations of any such authorized LNG exports.’’. 
Æ 
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