The US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has advanced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, a bipartisan energy bill that would facilitate permitting for energy infrastructure and mining projects.
Bill S. 4753 includes the following proposed reforms:
Electric Transmission Planning
The bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issues a new rule within 180 days of enactment that requires interregional transmission planning. The rule will also require interregional planning organizations to submit to FERC for approval the joint transmission plans and plans for establishing rates and cost allocations. Utilities in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) remain exempt.
Electric Transmission Siting/FERC Backstop Authority
The bill allows FERC, when exercising its backstop authority, to authorize any transmission project when state authorities fail to act within a year and to issue authorization to a project in the national interest that improves electric reliability and meets a minimum voltage threshold. This authority applies both to onshore and offshore electric transmission. Previously, FERC could exercise its backstop authority for projects in a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor designated by the secretary of the US Department of Energy (DOE), but this bill eliminates the secretary’s designation authority, allowing FERC to authorize the project without having to wait for such a designation.
Further, utilities that receive a construction permit under this authority must file with FERC a tariff for cost allocation, under which the costs of the project would be allocated to the customers identified by the developer. When evaluating these tariffs to confirm they are just and reasonable and therefore comply with the cost causation principle, FERC must consider the following categories of benefits:
- Improved reliability
- Reduced congestion
- Reduced power losses
- Greater carrying capacity
- Reduced operating reserve requirements
- Improved access to lower cost generation
FERC must also ensure that customers receiving no benefits or “trivial” benefits are not involuntarily allocated costs.
Electric Reliability
If FERC determines that a rule, regulation, or standard proposed by another federal agency might violate a FERC-approved mandatory electric reliability standard or resource adequacy requirement, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. must assess the proposal for reasonably foreseeable adverse effects and identify ways to mitigate these adverse effects.
Liquefied Natural Gas Exports
In response to the Biden administration’s temporary moratorium on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, this bill requires the DOE secretary to approve or deny all pending and future LNG export applications within 90 days of publication of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review. If the secretary fails to act within 90 days, the application is deemed approved.
Offshore Energy Leases
Under current law, there will be several years through 2029 where offshore wind, oil, and gas leasing will not occur. The bill requires the secretary of the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to hold at least one offshore wind lease and one offshore oil and gas lease per year through 2029. At least 400,000 acres must be offered per year. The secretary may also authorize rights-of-way electric transmission through national marine sanctuaries.
Onshore Energy Leasing and Permitting
The bill requires the DOI secretary to offer for lease at least 50% of acreage nominated for oil and gas leasing, up to 2,000,000 acres, in a year prior to issuing any rights-of-way for wind and solar development on federal land. The bill also limits the secretary’s ability to divide parcels. Additionally, it extends the validity of a drilling permit on federal lands from three years to four, removes the requirement for a federal permit to drill oil and gas wells on non-federal lands where the federal government owns less than 50% of the subsurface minerals, and prevents the secretary from imposing surface restrictions for wells drilled on non-federal lands.
In addition, the bill removes the requirement that rights-of-way granted by an Indian tribe on tribal lands must be approved by the secretary. The bill also permits hardrock mining projects for critical minerals to use federal land for mine support activities.
Onshore Energy Permitting NEPA Reforms
The bill also requires the secretaries of the DOI and the US Department of Agriculture to add to the categorical exclusions from NEPA for:
- Low-disturbance activities (e.g, activities on five or fewer acres that were previously reviewed under NEPA or projects on existing structures)
- Geothermal exploration or testing on federal lands where disturbances are less than 10 acres
- Electric transmission or distribution facility development within approved rights-of-way corridors or upgrades to existing facilities within existing rights-of-way or previously disturbed lands
Judicial Review
The bill sets a 150-day statute of limitation in which to seek judicial review, unless statute already sets a shorter length. It also requires courts to expedite the review of legal challenges and mandates that federal agencies act within 180 days if a court remands a decision.
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