S. 1830 would require the Department of State, in coordination with other federal agencies, to develop and submit to the Congress a strategy for the United States to promote the energy security of allies affiliated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to increase U.S. exports of energy and related technology and services to those countries. On the basis of costs to satisfy similar reporting requirements, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1830 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2020-2024 period; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Under current law, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must approve requests to export natural gas from the United States. Section 5 of the bill would increase the number of countries for which export approval can be expedited. Increasing the number of applications that receive expedited treatment could affect administrative costs for the agency. However, because FERC is authorized to fully recover its costs through fees charged to participants in the natural gas industry, any change in agency costs (which are controlled through annual appropriation acts) would be offset by changes in those fees. Thus, implementing that section would not change discretionary spending.
