U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) has reintroduced legislation designed to remove the bureaucratic red tape currently slowing down work on the nation’s critically needed infrastructure projects that cross borders with Canada and Mexico.
“Our nation needs robust investment in its infrastructure, especially if we are to accomplish the goal of making North America energy secure,” said Sen. Hoeven, who on June 12 introduced the North American Energy Infrastructure Act, S. 3056.
S. 3056 would establish a more uniform, transparent and modern process to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity, according to the draft text of the bill in the congressional record.
“Our legislation removes unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and would help to ensure projects are approved based on their merits,” Sen. Hoeven said. “Doing so would promote regulatory certainty for the energy industry while also supporting the production of affordable energy and the creation of good jobs.”
S. 3056, according to a June 14 summary provided by the senator’s office, would eliminate the Presidential Permit requirement for cross-border projects and instead would allow the appropriate federal agencies to handle the necessary decision-making. The environmental assessments conducted by federal agencies would remain unchanged under the bill.
Additionally, according to the summary, S. 3056 would not change state laws and regulations related to siting, land acquisition, design and construction of projects.
Among several other provisions under S. 3056, approval authority for cross-border oil pipelines would be transferred from the U.S. State Department to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), while FERC’s authority over cross-border natural gas pipelines would be retained, as would the authority of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over cross-border electrical transmission facilities.
However, S. 3056 would impose a 90-day limit on FERC and DOE to either issue a certificate of crossing or deny a project approval following completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, according to the summary.
S. 3056 has been referred to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for consideration.
Sen. Hoeven in 2015 first introduced the same-named bill during the 114th Congress. That bipartisan proposal was cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN).