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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3324 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3324
To confirm and clarify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's
obligation to assess and mitigate the impacts to climate change and
environmental justice communities from projects approved pursuant to
the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 3, 2025
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Duckworth, Mr.
Markey, and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To confirm and clarify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's
obligation to assess and mitigate the impacts to climate change and
environmental justice communities from projects approved pursuant to
the Natural Gas Act, 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 ``FERC Greenhouse Gas and
Environmental Justice Policy Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. GREENHOUSE GAS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE POLICY.
(a) Mitigation Proposal.--Section 7(d) of the Natural Gas Act (15
U.S.C. 717f(d)) is amended by inserting ``, including a mitigation
proposal described in subsection (i)(3),'' after ``contain such
information''.
(b) Present or Future Public Convenience and Necessity
Determination.--Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Present or Future Public Convenience and Necessity
Determination.--
``(1) In general.--In finding whether a proposed action, to
the extent that may be authorized by a certificate, is or will
be required by the present or future public convenience and
necessity under subsection (e), the Commission shall determine
whether--
``(A) the environmental effects of such proposed
action, including any effects relating to the
environment of such proposed action on environmental
justice communities, are significant, and if such
significant environmental effects, if any, can be
mitigated pursuant to a mitigation proposal required
under subsection (d);
``(B) the significant environmental effects of the
proposed action outweigh the benefits of the proposed
action under paragraph (4); and
``(C) the proposed action is necessary to ensure
energy reliability and affordability.
``(2) Significant environmental effects.--
``(A) In general.--In determining whether the
environmental effects of a proposed action are
significant under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission
shall, with respect to such proposed action--
``(i) evaluate such environmental effects
on environmental justice communities under
subparagraph (B); and
``(ii) quantify reasonably foreseeable
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from such
proposed action under subparagraph (C).
``(B) Environmental justice communities.--The
Commission shall evaluate the effects of a proposed
action on environmental justice communities based on
all evidence in the record, including--
``(i) existing environmental and public
health stressors;
``(ii) any adverse environmental and public
health stressors resulting from the proposed
action;
``(iii) the presence or absence of adverse
cumulative stressors;
``(iv) potential environmental and public
health stressors associated with the proposed
action; and
``(v) other factors, as identified by the
Commission and the affected environmental
justice communities following a meaningful
opportunity for public engagement by those
communities.
``(C) Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions.--
The Commission shall quantify reasonably foreseeable
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from a proposed
action based on all evidence in the record, including--
``(i) the projected capacity of the
relevant pipelines to transport natural gas;
``(ii) the projected utilization rate of
the relevant pipelines;
``(iii) the construction and operation of
the proposed action;
``(iv) the projected downstream greenhouse
gas emissions and effects, including cumulative
effects, on environmental justice communities
resulting from the proposed action, including
those resulting from the combustion of the
natural gas;
``(v) the projected upstream greenhouse gas
emissions and effects, including cumulative
effects, on environmental justice communities
resulting from the proposed action, including
those resulting from leakage or other release
of the natural gas; and
``(vi) other factors, as identified by the
Commission.
``(D) Threshold.--For purposes of determining
whether the environmental effects of a proposed action
are significant under this paragraph, the Commission
shall--
``(i) with respect to environmental effects
described in subparagraph (B), consider that--
``(I) no community should bear a
disproportionate share of the adverse
environmental and public health
consequences that results from the
Commission approving an application for
a certificate of public convenience or
necessity; and
``(II) it is in the public interest
for the Commission, where appropriate,
to limit the future placement and
expansion of a proposed action in
environmental justice communities; and
``(ii) with respect to quantifying
greenhouse gas emissions under subparagraph
(C), presume--
``(I) a proposed action that has
reasonably foreseeable emissions of at
least 100,000 metric tons per year of
carbon dioxide equivalent to have a
significant effect on climate change;
and
``(II) greenhouse gases other than
carbon dioxide shall be converted to
carbon dioxide equivalent using the 20-
year global warming potentials from the
most recent assessment report published
by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.
``(3) Mitigation.--
``(A) In general.--Under subsection (d), the
Commission shall require an applicant for a certificate
to submit a proposal with the applicable application
that details how the applicant will mitigate all or a
portion of the environmental effects of the proposed
action, including on climate change and environmental
justice communities.
``(B) Conditions.--Upon reviewing the mitigation
proposal under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall,
to the extent practicable, attach to the issuance of a
certificate, and to the exercise of the rights granted
thereunder, conditions that require the holder of such
certificate to address any potential adverse effects of
any action authorized under such certificate on climate
change and environmental justice communities.
``(C) Additional requirement.--For any proposed
action the Commission approves for which it does not
require conditions that mitigate or offset the
significant environmental effects of the proposed
action to below the significance threshold described in
paragraph (2)(D), the Commission shall provide a
detailed explanation as to why such mitigation is not
practicable.
``(4) Weighing.--
``(A) In general.--Under paragraph (1)(B), the
Commission shall weigh all environmental effects,
including significant environmental effects, to the
extent any significant environmental effects can be
practicably mitigated under the threshold described in
paragraph (2)(D) and determine whether the benefits of
the proposed action outweigh such environmental
effects.
``(B) Limitation.--In the event the Commission
finds that the proposed action is or will be required
by the present or future public convenience and
necessity under subsection (e) despite any significant
environmental effects that cannot be practicably
mitigated, the Commission shall provide a detailed
explanation as to why the Commission finds the proposed
action to be nevertheless required by the present or
future public convenience and necessity.
``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Certificate.--The term `certificate' means a
certificate of public convenience and necessity
described in subsection (c).
``(B) Environmental effect.--The term
`environmental effect' means an effect caused by a
proposed action on the environment and climate change.
``(C) Environmental justice community.--The term
`environmental justice community' means any population
of color, community of color, indigenous community, or
low-income community that experiences a
disproportionate burden of the negative human health
and environmental impacts of pollution or other
environmental hazards.
``(D) Proposed action.--The term `proposed action'
means a proposed service, sale, operation,
construction, extension, or acquisition, as described
in subsection (e), in an application for a
certificate.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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