U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) on Feb. 28 introduced legislation to address the “insufficient compensation” of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) employees, according to the congressional record, to hasten the commission’s hiring of qualified staff to quickly and efficiently process construction applications.
“FERC’s backlog of applications for these infrastructure projects is standing in the way of good-paying jobs for Louisiana families,” said Sen. Cassidy, chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. “FERC needs the expertise and manpower to speed up the review process and end long wait times for new natural gas terminals that benefit Louisiana workers and their families.”
Sen. Cassidy last week sponsored the Timely Review of Infrastructure Act, S. 607, with Sen. Gardner the lead original cosponsor, which would enable FERC to tackle its shortage of highly specialized engineers, scientists and mathematicians to review FERC project applications.
U.S. Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) on Feb. 28 introduced the same-named bipartisan H.R. 1426 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sen. Gardner, a member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pointed out the importance of hastening FERC reviews for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. Such projects are important to his home state of Colorado, which is among several western states where the fracking of natural gas takes place.
Fracking business owners and other stakeholders need FERC approvals to get their products to market, like the proposed Jordan Cove LNG project in Oregon, a 229-mile natural gas pipeline from Malin, Ore., to a new export terminal in Coos Bay, Ore., where the natural gas would be liquefied and then loaded on ships headed for Asian markets.
This project, which has been on hold for a decade, and other infrastructure projects create jobs and bring economic opportunity to states like Colorado, said Sen. Gardner, but they’re often delayed due to staffing shortages at FERC.
The proposed bill would ensure “FERC has the resources they need to speed up the approval process and make sure the United States remains a global leader in energy production,” Sen. Gardner said.
FERC currently has 13 pending applications for new LNG export facilities and four projects in the pre-filing process, according to the lawmakers.
Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for LNG, said the U.S. LNG industry is set to be remarkable in 2019 as multiple projects enter service and many others delve into the regulatory process.
“The Timely Review of Infrastructure Act would give FERC the flexibility to bolster its highly skilled staff to handle the increased workload associated with our growing industry,” Riedl said. “This legislation would ensure a reliable and efficient review process for U.S. LNG projects.”
If enacted, the legislation would provide that “if the Chairman publicly certifies that compensation for a category of employees or other personnel of the Commission is insufficient to retain or attract employees and other personnel to allow the Commission to carry out the functions of the Commission in a timely, efficient, and effective manner, the Chairman may fix the compensation for the category of employees or other personnel,” according to the text of the bill.
Additionally, under the bill, the FERC chairman within a year of enactment would submit to congressional committees a report on information relating to hiring, vacancies, and compensation every two years for 10 years, according to the bill’s text.
S. 607 has been referred for consideration to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee while H.R. 1426 has been forwarded for review to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.