The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation on Thursday that would modernize the cross-border permit process for oil pipelines and electric transmission lines and replace the current presidential permit process.
Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) co-authored the bipartisan North American Energy Infrastructure Act to reform the approval process for energy infrastructure projects.
Upton said the legislation is a “sincere” effort to target solutions to lessons learned from the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“No one can rightfully argue that the current presidential permit process is not broken,” Upton said. “And for the over 100 operating or proposed oil, natural gas and electric transmission facilities that (the Congressional Research Service) has identified crossing the U.S. border with Canada or Mexico, we can do better and this bill will make us do better.”
As amended, the legislation would require a “certificate of crossing” for any segment of oil pipeline or electric transmission lines that cross the border with Canada or Mexico. The certificate of crossing would be subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Issuance of a certificate of crossing would be required within 120 days of completion of a NEPA review.
Green said the U.S. is in a great position to lead a unified energy sector with its allies and neighbors.
“The U.S. is already producing a surplus of oil and gas, Canada continues to develop huge amounts of domestic resources in addition to serving as our largest supplier of crude oil, meanwhile, Mexico, following recent reforms, is on the verge of receiving massive amounts of funding for future energy investments,” Green said. “Pipelines and electric transmission facilities would secure our energy needs, increase economic efficiencies that were created through (North American Free Trade Agreement) agreements and build a new energy powerhouse in the western hemisphere.”
The bill would also require approval of cross-border natural gas pipelines.