Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Act

Bill: 118-hr-3500
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Joyce, John [R-PA-13]
Introduced: 2023-05-18
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Judicial review and appeals

Licensing and registrations

Oil and gas

Pipelines

Virginia

West Virginia
Latest action: action_date: 2023-06-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-05-18
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Act</strong></p><p>This bill establishes requirements to expedite the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is a natural gas pipeline located in Virginia and West Virginia.</p><p>Specifically, the bill ratifies and approves all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to federal law related to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.</p><p>In addition, the bill establishes a deadline by which</p><ul><li>the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must issue permits or verifications necessary to complete the construction of the pipeline across the waters of the United States and to allow for the operation and maintenance of the pipeline,</li><li>the Forest Service must amend the Land and Resource Management Plan for the Jefferson National Forest as specified by the bill, and</li><li>the Department of Interior must grant specified rights-of-way and temporary use permits.</li></ul><p>Finally, the bill prohibits judicial review of certain approvals related to the pipeline.&nbsp;</p><!--tinycomments|2.1|data:application/json;base64,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-->

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3500 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 18, 2023 Mr. Joyce of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mrs. Miller of West Virginia , Mr. Reschenthaler , Mr. Mooney , Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania , and Mr. Meuser ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure , and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources , and Agriculture , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To expedite completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Act . 2. Expediting completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (a) Definition of mountain valley pipeline In this section, the term Mountain Valley Pipeline means the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, as generally described and approved in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Docket Nos. CP16–10, CP19–477, and CP21–57. (b) Congressional findings and declaration The Congress hereby finds and declares that the timely completion of construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is required in the national interest. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will serve demonstrated natural gas demand in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions, will increase the reliability of natural gas supplies and the availability of natural gas at reasonable prices, will allow natural gas producers to access additional markets for their product, and will reduce carbon emissions and facilitate the energy transition. (c) Approval and ratification of existing authorizations Congress hereby ratifies and approves all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law related to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (d) Expedited approval Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 21 days after the date of enactment of this Act and for the purpose of facilitating the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline— (1) the Secretary of the Army shall issue all permits or verifications necessary— (A) to complete the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline across the waters of the United States; and (B) to allow for the operation and maintenance of the Mountain Valley Pipeline; (2) the Secretary of Agriculture shall amend the Land and Resource Management Plan for the Jefferson National Forest in a manner that is substantively identical to the record of decision with respect to the Mountain Valley Pipeline issued on January 11, 2021, as may be modified by a subsequently issued record of decision following the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued on April 13, 2023; and (3) the Secretary of the Interior shall grant and maintain all necessary rights-of-way and temporary use permits in a manner that is substantively identical to those rights-of-way and temporary use permits approved with respect to the Mountain Valley Pipeline issued on January 14, 2021, or as may be modified by any subsequently issued rights-of-way and temporary use permits. (e) Judicial review (1) No action taken by the Secretary of the Army, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or a State administrative agency acting pursuant to Federal law that grants an authorization, permit, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or any other approval related to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, including the issuance of any authorization, permit, extension, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or other approval described in subsection (c) or (d) of this section for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, whether issued prior to or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section shall be subject to judicial review, and any lawsuit (including any lawsuit pending in a court as of the date of enactment of this section) seeking judicial review of such an agency order or action shall not be filed or maintained in any court and shall be promptly dismissed. (2) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any claim alleging the invalidity of this section or that an action is beyond the scope of authority conferred by this section. (f) Effect This section supersedes any other provision of law (including any other section of this Act or other statute, any regulation, any judicial decision, or any agency guidance) that is inconsistent with the issuance of any authorization, permit, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or other approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.