119-s883

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 883 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 883

 To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory 
 Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting, 
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import 
 natural gas, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 March 6, 2025

Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. 
 Budd, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
 Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Natural Gas Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory 
 Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting, 
construction, expansion, or operation of facilities to export or import 
 natural gas, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNITED STATES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.

 

Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended--

    (1) by striking subsections

    (a) through
            (c) ;

    (2) by redesignating subsections
            (d) ,

    (e) , and

    (f) as 
 subsections
            (c) ,

    (a) , and

    (b) , respectively, and reordering 
 accordingly;

    (3) by striking the section designation and heading and all 
 that follows through the period at the end of paragraph

    (1) of 
 subsection

    (a) (as so redesignated) and inserting the 
 following:

``

SEC. 3. LNG TERMINALS; AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT TO PROHIBIT IMPORTS 
 OR EXPORTS OF NATURAL GAS.

 ``

    (a) LNG Terminals.--
 ``

    (1) Authority of the commission.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--The Federal Energy Regulatory 
 Commission shall have the exclusive authority to 
 approve or deny an application for the siting, 
 construction, expansion, or operation of a facility, 
 including an LNG terminal, to export natural gas from 
 the United States to a foreign country or import 
 natural gas from a foreign country.
 ``
        (B) Public interest.--In determining whether to 
 approve or deny an application described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) , the Federal Energy Regulatory 
 Commission shall deem the importation or exportation of 
 natural gas to be consistent with the public interest.
 ``
            (C) Effect.--Except as specifically provided in 
 this Act, nothing in this Act affects otherwise 
 applicable law relating to the authority or 
 responsibility of any Federal agency relating to 
 facilities, including LNG terminals, to import or 
 export natural gas.''; and

    (4) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Rule of Construction Relating to Authority To Prohibit 
Imports or Exports.--
 ``

    (1) Definition of state sponsor of terrorism.--In this 
 subsection, the term `state sponsor of terrorism' means a 
 country the government of which the Secretary of State 
 determines has repeatedly provided support for international 
 terrorism pursuant to--
 ``
        (A) section 1754
            (c) (1)
        (A) of the Export Control 
 Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813
            (c) (1)
        (A) );
 ``
        (B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
 ``
            (C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
 U.S.C. 2780); or
 ``
            (D) any other provision of law.
 ``

    (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act limits the 
 authority of the President under the Constitution or any 
 provision of law described in paragraph

    (3) to prohibit imports 
 or exports.
 ``

    (3) Provisions of law described.--The provisions of law 
 referred to in paragraph

    (2) are--
 ``
        (A) the International Emergency Economic Powers 
 Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
 ``
        (B) the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 
 et seq.);
 ``
            (C) part B of title II of the Energy Policy and 
 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.);
 ``
            (D) the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 
 4301 et seq.); and
 ``
        (E) any other provision of law that--
 ``
            (i) imposes sanctions with respect to a 
 foreign person or foreign government, including 
 the government of a country that is designated 
 as a state sponsor of terrorism; or
 ``
            (ii) prohibits or restricts United States 
 persons from engaging in a transaction with a 
 person or government subject to sanctions 
 imposed by the United States.''.
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