As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
on July 17, 2013
Under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reviews applications to construct and operate interstate natural gas pipelines. Decisions pertaining to such applications depend on regulatory activities carried out by a variety of other federal agencies, as well as state and local governments pursuant to various other laws. H.R. 1900 would amend the Natural Gas Act to require FERC and other affected agencies to complete regulatory activities and reviews within timeframes specified in the bill.
Based on information from FERC and other federal agencies that regulate aspects of interstate natural gas pipelines, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1900 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. The bill would not affect the scope of federal agencies’ responsibilities in overseeing such pipelines, and CBO expects that meeting the timeframes specified in the bill would not require a significant change in the level of discretionary funding provided to affected agencies to meet their regulatory
