Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act

Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act - (Sec. 2) Directs the Department of Energy (DOE), for proposals that must also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the United States Maritime Administration to site, construct, expand, or operate liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities, to issue a decision on an application for authorization to export natural gas within 30 days after the later of: (1) the conclusion of the review to site, construct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); or (2) the date of enactment of this Act.

Deems any NEPA review to be concluded: (1) 30 days after publication of a required Environmental Impact Statement if the project needs one; (2) 30 days after publication by DOE of a Finding of No Significant Impact if the project needs an Environmental Assessment; and (3) upon a determination by the lead agency that an application is eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to regulations under NEPA.

(A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.)

Confers original and exclusive jurisdiction upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the export facility under an application will be located over any civil action for the review of: (1) a DOE order regarding the application, or (2) DOE failure to issue a final decision on the application.

Requires the Court, if it finds in a civil action that DOE has failed to issue a final decision on an application, to order DOE to issue one within 30 days.

Requires the Court to set any civil action brought under this Act on the docket, for expedited consideration, as soon as practical after the filing date of the initial pleading.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Natural Gas Act to set, as a condition for approval of any authorization to export LNG, that the DOE Secretary require the applicant to disclose publicly the specific destination or destinations of any such authorized LNG exports.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 H. R. 6

  To provide for expedited approval of exportation of natural gas to 
      World Trade Organization countries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2014

Mr. Gardner (for himself, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Upton, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. 
 Whitfield, Mr. Barton, Mr. Olson, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Guthrie, 
Mrs. Ellmers, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, 
    Mr. Lance, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Latta, Mr. Griffith of 
Virginia, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Hall, Mr. Turner, Mr. 
  Boustany, and Mr. Womack) introduced 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 to 
      World Trade Organization countries, 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 ``Domestic Prosperity and Global 
Freedom Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``For purposes'';
            (2) by striking ``a nation with which there is in effect a 
        free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in 
        natural gas'' and inserting ``a World Trade Organization member 
        nation''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term `World Trade 
Organization member nation' means a country described in section 2(10) 
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(10)).''.

SEC. 3. PENDING APPLICATIONS.

    Any application for authorization to export natural gas under 
section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) for which a notice 
has been published in the Federal Register before March 6, 2014, shall 
be granted without modification or delay.
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