[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1155 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1155

  To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of 
                  natural gas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2019

Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To terminate the prohibitions on the exportation and importation of 
                  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 ``License Natural Gas Now Act of 
2019'' or the ``LNG Now Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the exportation of natural gas produced in the United 
        States is in the interest of the United States; and
            (2) because natural gas produced in the United States has a 
        lower greenhouse gas emissions profile than other energy 
        sources used in high volumes in other countries, the 
        exportation of natural gas from the United States may help 
        lower global emissions of carbon dioxide.

SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking the section heading and all that follows 
        through ``(a) After'' and inserting the following:

``SEC. 3. EXPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS; LNG TERMINALS.

    ``(a) Authorization To Export or Import Natural Gas.--
            ``(1) In general.--After'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)--
                            (i) in the second sentence, by striking ``, 
                        unless,'' and all that follows through the 
                        period at the end of the sentence and inserting 
                        ``without modification or delay.''; and
                            (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 
                        ``by its order'' and all that follows through 
                        the period at the end of the sentence and 
                        inserting ``condition the order on a 
                        requirement that the applicant, on request, 
                        provide relevant data to the Commission to 
                        facilitate the information collection and 
                        statistical activities of the Commission.''; 
                        and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Prohibitions.--
                    ``(A) Prohibition on restricting natural gas 
                importation or exportation.--Except as provided in 
                paragraph (1) and subparagraph (C) or in any Federal 
                authorization to export natural gas from the United 
                States to a foreign country or to import natural gas 
                into the United States from a foreign country in effect 
                on the date of enactment of the LNG Now Act of 2019, to 
                promote the efficient exploration, production, storage, 
                supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy 
                resources, including fossil fuels, no employee of the 
                Federal Government shall impose or enforce any 
                restriction or condition on--
                            ``(i) the exportation of natural gas from 
                        the United States to a foreign country; or
                            ``(ii) the importation of natural gas into 
                        the United States from a foreign country.
                    ``(B) Treatment of imported natural gas.--The 
                Commission shall not treat, on the basis of national 
                origin, any imported natural gas on an unjust, 
                unreasonable, unduly discriminatory, or preferential 
                basis.
                    ``(C) Prohibition on import from or export to 
                certain nations.--The export of natural gas to, or the 
                import of natural gas from, a nation subject to 
                sanctions imposed by the United States is prohibited.
            ``(3) Consideration of exported natural gas as a first 
        sale.--The exportation of natural gas to a foreign country from 
        the United States shall be considered to be a first sale (as 
        defined in section 2 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (15 
        U.S.C. 3301)).'';
            (3) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and
            (4) by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) as 
        subsections (b) through (d), respectively.
    (b) Effect.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall not affect 
any Federal authorization to export natural gas from the United States 
to a foreign country or to import natural gas into the United States 
from a foreign country in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON FOSTERING NATURAL GAS EXPORTS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report describing 
actions taken by the United States Government, and actions that could 
be taken by the United States Government, to foster the exportation of 
natural gas from the United States to foreign countries.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report that 
identifies regulations in effect as of such date of enactment that 
inhibit the growth of the market for natural gas exported from the 
United States.
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