Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act
Amends the Natural Gas Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve or deny a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a prefiled project within 12 months after receiving a complete application that is ready to be processed.
Defines "prefiled project" as a project for the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a natural gas pipeline with respect to which a prefiling docket number has been assigned by FERC pursuant to a prefiling process established by FERC for the purpose of facilitating the formal application process for obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
Requires the agency responsible for issuing any federal license, permit, or approval regarding the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a project for which a certificate is sought to approve or deny issuance of the certificate within 90 days after FERC issues its final environmental document regarding the project.
Requires FERC to grant an agency request for a 30-day extension of the 90-day time period if the agency demonstrates that it cannot otherwise complete the process required to approve or deny the license, permit, or approval, and therefore will be compelled to deny it.
Authorizes FERC, in granting such an extension, to offer technical assistance to the agency in order to address conditions preventing completion of the application review.
Declares that, if the agency fails to approve or deny issuance of a permit, license, or approval within the prescribed time-frame, the license, permit, or approval shall take effect upon expiration of 30 days after the period's end.
Directs FERC to incorporate into the terms of a license, permit, or approval any conditions proffered by the agency that FERC does not find to be inconsistent with the final environmental document.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House without amendment" stage on January 21, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Received in the Senate.
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Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
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The record's latest action, on January 22, 2015: Received in the Senate.
How likely is it to become law?
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In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mike Pompeo (R-KS) introduced it on January 6, 2015, and 33 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 33 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 6, 2015, 4265 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4249 days ago, on January 22, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseReceived in the Senate.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action