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FIRST ON FOX: Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveil a bill aimed at streamlining permitting for pipelines and other related energy projects.
The Pipeline Safety, Modernization, and Expansion Act of 2023 – written by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Duncan, RS.C. — focuses on four key pillars: expanding pipeline infrastructure, reducing prices, reducing emissions and strengthening pipeline safety.
“Pipelines are among the safest and most efficient ways to transport the fuels that heat our homes, power our cars and power our nation’s economy,” McMorris Rodgers and Duncan said in a joint statement to Fox News Digital.
“Yet President Biden and the Democrats are proactively working to shut down U.S. pipelines and prevent necessary maintenance to ensure pipelines operate safely and efficiently,” they continued. “The administration is also making it more difficult to build new infrastructure. This prevents critical resources from reaching the people who need them most.”
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Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks at a news conference on Feb. 8, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
One of the most important provisions is that the legislation authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue any federal permit necessary for the construction, modification, extension, inspection, repair or maintenance of a pipeline. It would also allow individuals to request that FERC make a final decision on a permit if the federal agency charged with permitting a pipeline fails to complete a procedure within a year.
It would also prohibit a state or local jurisdiction from prohibiting the transportation of an energy resource such as natural gas sold in interstate commerce using a pipeline regulated by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
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Under the bill, PHMSA would also need to consider “safety and economic benefits within the United States” when conducting its cost-benefit analysis of proposed pipeline regulations.
“To meet the needs of the American people, today we unveil the Pipeline Safety, Modernization, and Expansion Act of 2023, which will enable us to build more pipelines, maintain our current critical infrastructure, safely operate pipelines, transport more energy, and lower energy prices,” added McMorris Rodgers and Duncan.
“We look forward to continuing to engage with stakeholders on this bill to ensure everyone has access to these critical energy resources,” the two GOP leaders said.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, RS.C., the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee, speaks at the Capitol on April 5, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In addition, the bill contains a number of provisions to enhance the safety of pipelines.
For example, it would require PHMSA to hold more frequent technical safety advisory meetings, issue fines for “damage, destruction, or impairment of the operation of” pipeline facilities, direct PHMSA to conduct a pilot program to test innovative pipeline safety technologies, and establish a PHMSA information-sharing system to “collect, evaluate, and quantify critical pipeline safety data and information to improve safety.”
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And the bill would further require PHMSA to finalize safety standards for pipeline facilities transporting carbon dioxide no later than one year after the enactment date. It also clarifies the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to designate areas suitable for underground carbon dioxide sequestration.
Those provisions would cover how carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is regulated. CCS is a burgeoning technology pushed by some environmentalists that separates the carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants and industrial plants before pipeline that gas into a deep underground cavern where it is stored forever.
President Joe Biden has been criticized for blocking key pipelines and introducing regulations that make it more difficult to approve new pipelines. (AP Photo/Alex Brand | Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The effort by McMorris Rodgers and Duncan on Tuesday comes amid broader push from both Republicans and Democrats to streamline energy supplies.
In May, Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, reintroduced his Building American Energy Security Act. His office said the legislation was intended to serve as a starting point for upcoming talks in Congress on “reforming energy to ensure American energy security and independence.”
Manchin first introduced the Building American Energy Security Act in September 2022 after Congress passed and President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The legislation was billed as a necessary counterpart to the IRA, ensuring that green energy projects supported by that bill would gain federal approvals more quickly.
After the legislation stalled, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., voted in December to link it to the annual National Defense Authorization Act in a move supported by Biden and green energy groups but opposed by environmental groups. In a 47 to 47 vote, with 40 Democrats and seven Republicans voting in favor of the bill, the Senate rejected the amendment.
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
