“A bill to promote interagency coordination for reviewing certain authorizations under the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section designates the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the sole lead agency for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews of applications for natural gas infrastructure authorizations under section 3 (imports/exports) or section 7 (pipelines) of the Natural Gas Act; requires FERC to coordinate early with participating agencies and take actions to expedite its review; and directs other agencies to defer to FERC's determination of appropriate NEPA review scope. The section further requires FERC, upon receiving an application, to (1) identify relevant federal, state, local, or tribal agencies within 30 days; (2) invite them to participate within 45 days, with a response deadline; and (3) designate participating agencies within 60 days unless they opt out for lack of jurisdiction, expertise, or intent to comment (with such designations having no evidentiary effect in court). Finally, the section exempts applicants from obtaining water quality certifications under section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for such authorizations but requires FERC to coordinate with relevant states or interstate agencies on discharges into navigable waters, allowing them to propose conditions to FERC.
This section establishes an accelerated and exclusive judicial review process for challenges to core authorizations issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under sections 3(e) or 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (i.e., approvals for importing/exporting natural gas or siting, constructing, or operating interstate natural gas facilities) and all associated federal authorizations for such covered projects. (Thus, issuance of a FERC core authorization constitutes final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act for the entire project.) The section requires any civil action—including related claims challenging other federal authorizations—to be filed exclusively in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit or the circuit of the project sponsor's principal place of business, within the earlier of 60 days after Federal Register publication of the core authorization or any applicable statutory deadline; provides that such actions constitute the sole means of judicial review, barring subsequent challenges; and limits review to the administrative record with no discovery or fact-finding. Additionally, the section (1) mandates a "multiplicative merit standard" for preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders, requiring the product of probabilities of success on each independent requirement (including standing, final agency action, and merits) to exceed 50 percent, with written findings specifying each probability; (2) deems project approvals final if no court decision is issued within 180 days after the filing deadline; and (3) treats project sponsors' statements of material fact as non-independent evidence.