Sec. 2007. Authorization of cross-border infrastructure projects

886 words·~4 min read·/bill/114/s/2012/eah/section-2007

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Congress finds that the United States should establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process for the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of pipelines and electric transmission facilities for the import and export of liquid products, including water and petroleum, and natural gas and the transmission of electricity to and from Canada and Mexico. No person may construct, connect, operate, or maintain a cross-border segment of a pipeline or electric transmission facility for the import or export of liquid products or natural gas, or the transmission of electricity, to or from Canada or Mexico without obtaining a certificate of crossing for such construction, connection, operation, or maintenance under this subsection.

Not later than 120 days after final action is taken under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) with respect to a cross-border segment described in paragraph (1), the relevant official identified under subparagraph (B), in consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, shall issue a certificate of crossing for the cross-border segment unless the relevant official finds that the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of the cross-border segment is not in the public interest of the United States.

For the purposes of natural gas pipelines, a finding with respect to the public interest under section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act ( 15 U.S.C. 717b(a) ) shall serve as a finding under clause

(i)of this subparagraph. The relevant official referred to in subparagraph

(A)is— the Secretary of State with respect to liquid pipelines; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with respect to natural gas pipelines; and the Secretary of Energy with respect to electric transmission facilities. The Secretary of Energy shall require, as a condition of issuing a certificate of crossing for an electric transmission facility, that the cross-border segment be constructed, connected, operated, or maintained consistent with all applicable policies and standards of— the Electric Reliability Organization and the applicable regional entity; and any Regional Transmission Organization or Independent System Operator with operational or functional control over the cross-border segment of the electric transmission facility. No certificate of crossing shall be required under this subsection for a change in ownership, volume expansion, downstream or upstream interconnection, or adjustment to maintain flow (such as a reduction or increase in the number of pump or compressor stations) with respect to a liquid or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facility unless such modification would result in a significant impact at the national boundary. Nothing in this subsection shall affect the application of any other Federal statute (including the Natural Gas Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act) to a project for which a certificate of crossing is sought under this subsection. Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act ( 15 U.S.C. 717b(c) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: In the case of an application for the importation or exportation of natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico, the Commission shall grant the application not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of the complete application. . Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 824a(e) ) is repealed. Section 202(f) of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 824a(f) ) is amended by striking insofar as such State regulation does not conflict with the exercise of the Commission’s powers under or relating to subsection 202(e) . Section 602(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ( 16 U.S.C. 824a–4(b) ) is amended by striking the Commission has conducted hearings and made the findings required under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the Secretary has conducted hearings and finds that the proposed transmission facilities would not impair the sufficiency of electric supply within the United States or would not impede or tend to impede the coordination in the public interest of facilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary . Subsections

(b)through (d), and the amendments made by such subsections, shall take effect on January 20, 2017. Each relevant official described in subsection (b)(2)(B) shall— not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register notice of a proposed rulemaking to carry out the applicable requirements of subsection (b); and not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register a final rule to carry out the applicable requirements of subsection (b). In this section— the term cross-border segment means the portion of a liquid or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facility that is located at the national boundary of the United States with either Canada or Mexico; the terms Electric Reliability Organization and regional entity have the meanings given those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 824o ); the terms Independent System Operator and Regional Transmission Organization have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 796 ); the term liquid includes water, petroleum, petroleum product, and any other substance that flows through a pipeline other than natural gas; and the term natural gas has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act ( 15 U.S.C. 717a ).

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