American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act - Division A: Energy and Commerce - Northern Route Approval Act - Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for a certain pipeline application filed by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline (including the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and approved by the Nebraska governor).
Deems a certain final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State, coupled with such Final Evaluation Report, to satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act.
Deems the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary in this Act, unless otherwise indicated) to have issued a written opinion that the Keystone XL pipeline project will neither jeopardize the American burying beetle, nor destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat.
Requires the Secretary of the Army to issue by a specified deadline certain permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 for pipeline construction, operation, and maintenance.
Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from prohibiting or restricting any activity or use of an area authorized under this Act.
Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act - Amends the Natural Gas Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve or deny a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a prefiled project within 12 months after receiving a complete application that is ready to be processed.
Requires the agency responsible for issuing any federal license, permit, or approval regarding the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a project to approve or deny the certificate within 90 days after FERC issues its final environmental document.
Declares that, if the agency fails to approve or deny a permit, license, or approval within the prescribed time-frame, the license, permit, or approval shall take effect upon expiration of 30 days after the period's end.
North American Energy Infrastructure Act - Declares a certificate of crossing under this Act to be a prerequisite for construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border segment of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facility at the national boundary of the U.S. for the import or export of oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada or Mexico.
Amends the Natural Gas Act to declare that a FERC order is not required for the export or import of natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico.
Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal the requirement that the transmission of electric energy to a foreign country necessitates prior FERC authorization.
Declares that no Presidential permit shall be necessary for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facility, including any cross-border segment.
Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2014 - Prohibits EPA from promulgating a final rule governing production, supply, distribution, or use of energy that is estimated to impose aggregate costs of more than $1 billion if the Department of Energy (DOE) determines that it will cause significant adverse effects to the economy.
Requires EPA, before promulgating such a final rule, to report on: (1) an estimate of the total costs and benefits of the rule, (2) an estimate of the increases in energy prices that may result from the rule, and (3) a detailed description of the employment effects that may result from the rule.
Directs DOE to: (1) determine whether such rule will increase consumer energy prices, or impact fuel diversity of the nation's electricity generation portfolio or electric reliability; (2) cause an adverse effect on energy supply, distribution, or use; and (3) determine whether the rule will cause significant adverse effects to the economy.
Prohibits EPA from using the social cost of carbon in any cost-benefit analysis relating to an energy-related rule estimated to cost more than $1 billion unless a federal law is enacted authorizing such use.
Electricity Security and Affordability Act - Prohibits EPA from issuing, implementing, or enforcing any rule under the Clean Air Act that establishes a performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions from a new source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit unless the rule meets specified requirements of this Act.
Requires EPA to separate sources fueled with coal and natural gas into separate categories.
Prohibits EPA from setting a standard based on the best system of emission reduction for new sources within a fossil-fuel category unless the standard meets certain criteria.
Precludes from taking effect, unless a federal law is enacted specifying an effective date, any EPA rule or guideline that: (1) establishes any performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions from a modified or reconstructed source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit, or (2) applies to greenhouse gas emissions from such an existing source.
Nullifies specified proposed rules for Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units that are issued before enactment of this Act.
Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act - Directs DOE to issue a decision on an application to export natural gas within 30 days after the later of: (1) the conclusion of the review to site, construct, expand, or operate the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities required by NEPA; or (2) the date of enactment of this Act.
Deems any NEPA review to be concluded: (1) 30 days after publication of a required Environmental Impact Statement; (2) 30 days after DOE publication of a Finding of No Significant Impact if the project needs an Environmental Assessment; and (3) upon a determination by the lead agency that an application is eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to NEPA regulations.
(A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment [EA] nor an environmental impact statement [EIS] is required.)
Confers exclusive jurisdiction upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the LNG export facility will be located regarding any civil action for the review of: (1) a DOE order regarding the application, or (2) DOE failure to issue a final decision on the application.
Amends the Natural Gas Act to require DOE to require, as a condition for approval to export LNG, that the applicant make public disclosure of the export's specific destination.
Division B: Natural Resources Committee - Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to direct the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary in this Act) to implement a leasing program that includes at least 50% of the available unleased acreage within each outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning area considered to have the largest undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources.
Sets the production goal as an increase by 2032 of at least: (1) 3 million barrels of oil produced daily, and (2) 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas produced daily.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) submit to Congress a new proposed oil and gas leasing program for the five-year period from July 15, 2015, to July 15, 2021, and (2) approve a final oil and gas leasing program by July 15, 2016.
Directs the Secretary to conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 on the OCS offshore Virginia within one year after enactment of this Act.
Directs the Secretary to conduct a lease sale within two years after enactment of this Act for areas off the coast of South Carolina with the most geologically promising hydrocarbon resources and constituting at least 25% of the leasable area within the South Carolina offshore administrative boundaries.
Directs the Secretary to offer for sale by December 31, 2015, leases of tracts in the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara/Ventura Basins of the Southern California OCS Planning Area.
Allocates 37.5% of the amount of new federal leasing revenues to coastal states affected by the leases under which those revenues are received by the U.S. Prescribes an allocation schedule for coastal states within 200 miles of the leased tract.
Establishes in the Department of the Interior: (1) an Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Minerals; (2) an Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety; (3) an Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management; (4) a Bureau of Ocean Energy; (5) an Ocean Energy Safety Service; and (6) an Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a National Offshore Energy Safety Academy as an agency of the Ocean Energy Safety Service, and (2) an Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory Board.
Abolishes the Minerals Management Service.
Establishes in the Treasury the Ocean Energy Enforcement Fund as depository for non-refundable fees collected from the operators of facilities subject to inspection.
Redefines the OCS to include all submerged lands lying within the U.S. exclusive economic zone and the Continental Shelf adjacent to any U.S. territory.
Directs the Secretary to promulgate rules regarding the revenue streams contemplated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, including the timing and methods of disbursements of certain funds under such Act.
Prescribes requirements for judicial review of any action or decision by a federal official regarding the issuance of an energy lease.
Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act - Directs the Secretary to encourage the use of U.S. workers and equipment manufactured in the U.S. in all construction related to mineral resource development under this Act.
Streamlining Permitting of American Energy Act of 2014 - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) to direct the Secretary to decide whether to issue a permit to drill within 30 days after receiving a permit application, with specified allowable deadline extensions. Deems a permit application approved if the Secretary has not made a decision by 60 days after its receipt.
Directs the Secretary to collect: (1) a single $6,500 permit processing fee per application; and (2) a $5,000 documentation fee to accompany each protest for a lease, right of way, or application for permit to drill.
Requires the Secretary to establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in every Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field office responsible for permitting energy projects on federal land.
Prescribes procedures for judicial review of an agency action affecting leasing federal lands for energy activities.
Requires the Secretary to provide matching funding of up to 50% for joint projects with states to conduct oil and gas resource assessments on federal lands with significant oil and gas potential.
Providing Leasing Certainty for American Energy Act of 2014 - Requires the Secretary, in conducting lease sales under the MLA, to offer for sale at least 25% of the annual nominated acreage not previously made available for lease. Shields such acreage from protest or the test of extraordinary circumstances.
Amends the MLA to prohibit the Secretary from: (1) withdrawing any covered energy project without finding a violation of lease terms by the lessee; (2) delaying indefinitely issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, and rights of way for activities under a lease; or (3) cancelling or withdrawing any lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and a winning bidder has made the last payment for the parcel.
Declares without force or effect BLM Instruction Memorandum 2010-117 (which establishes a process to ensure orderly, effective, timely, and environmentally responsible leasing of oil and gas resources on federal lands).
Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act or the PIONEERS Act - Deems the final regulations regarding oil shale management published by the BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements.
Deems the November 17, 2008, BLM Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements.
Directs the Secretary to hold, within 180 days after enactment of this Act, a lease sale that offers for lease additional ten parcels for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources under terms offered in specified bid solicitations.
Requires the Secretary, by January 1, 2016, to hold at least five separate commercial lease sales, in multiple lease blocs, in areas of at least 25,000 acres, which: (1) have been nominated through public comment, and (2) are considered to have the most potential for oil shale development.
Planning for American Energy Act of 2014 - Amends the MLA to direct the Secretary to publish a Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production Strategy to direct federal land energy development and department resource allocation.
Directs the Secretary to determine a domestic strategic production objective for the development of energy resources.
Expresses the sense of Congress that federally recognized Indian tribes may elect to set their own production objectives as part of such strategy.
National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act - Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require the mandatory program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) to include at least one lease sale annually in areas deemed most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2014-2024.
Directs the Secretary to ensure permits according to a specified timeline for all surface development activities, including pipelines and roads construction, to: (1) develop and bring into production areas within the NPR that are subject to oil and gas leases, and (2) transport oil and gas from and through the NPR to existing transportation or processing infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska.
Directs the Secretary to ensure that any federal permitting agency issue permits for construction for transportation of oil and natural gas under existing federal oil and gas leases with drilling permits within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Requires approval of drilling permits under new federal oil and gas leases within six months after submission of a permit request to the Secretary.
Nullifies the February 21, 2013, Record of Decision, including its integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement.
Requires the Secretary to assess all technically recoverable fossil fuel resources within the NPR, including conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas.
BLM Live Internet Auctions Act - Amends the MLA to authorize the Secretary to conduct onshore oil and gas lease sales, within seven days, through Internet-based live bidding methods.
Native American Energy Act - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow either the Secretary, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe to appraise Indian land or trust assets involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval.
Amends NEPA to make the environmental impact statement for major federal action on Indian lands available for review and comment only to the affected Indian tribe and individuals residing within the affected area.
Prescribes requirements for judicial review of energy-related actions.
Amends the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 to direct the Secretary to enter into agreements with Indian tribes to carry out demonstration projects that promote biomass energy production on Indian forest land and in nearby communities by providing tribes with reliable supplies of woody biomass from federal lands.
Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into commercial or agricultural leases of up to 99 years on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary.
Permits the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under approved tribal regulations and do not exceed 25 years, though they may include a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years.
Prohibits any Department of the Interior rule regarding hydraulic fracturing used in oil and gas development or production, from having any effect on land held in trust or restricted status for Indians, except with the express consent of its Indian beneficiaries.
Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Energy Employment and Training.
Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act - Amends the Water Conservation and Utilization Act (WCUA) to authorize the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to enter into 40-year leases of power privileges for electric power generation in connection with any project constructed under such Act.
Requires the Bureau to apply its categorical exclusion process under NEPA to small conduit hydropower under WCUA, excluding siting of associated transmission facilities on federal lands.
Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to modify the boundary of the Crooked River, Oregon. Requires the developer for any hydropower development at Bowman Dam to analyze any impacts to the Outstanding Remarkable Values of the Wild and Scenic River that may be caused by such development and propose impact mitigationas part of any license application submitted to FERC.
Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act - Amends the MLA to prohibit the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing (including any component of that process), relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in any state that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for that activity. Extends that prohibition, with an exception, to land held either in trust or restricted status for the benefit of Indians.
Requires the Department to recognize and defer to state regulations, permitting, and guidance for hydraulic fracturing relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on federal land.
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to examine the economic benefits of domestic shale oil and gas production resulting from hydraulic fracturing.
EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Study Improvement Act - Requires EPA to adhere to prescribed requirements when conducting its study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to require state programs for regulation of surface coal mining to incorporate the necessary rule concerning excess spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Division C: Judiciary - Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2014 or the RAPID Act - Authorizes a project sponsor, upon the request of a lead agency, to prepare any document required for environmental review if the agency furnishes oversight and independently evaluates, approves, and adopts the document before taking action on it.
Prohibits requiring more than one EIS and one EA for a project, except for supplemental environmental documents prepared under NEPA or pursuant to court order. Requires the lead agency to prepare the EIS or EA.
Prohibits the lead agency from using the social cost of carbon in any environmental review or environmental decision making process.
Requires the Council on Environmental Quality and each federal agency to amend NEPA implementing regulations to implement this Act.
| Action Date | Type | Text | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-11-17 | Calendars | Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 601. | Senate |
| 2014-11-13 | Calendars | Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. | Senate |
| 2014-11-12 | IntroReferral | Received in the Senate. | Senate |
| 2014-09-19 | Committee | Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. | House committee actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Vote | On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 226 - 191 (Roll no. 515). (text: CR H7819-7841) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Vote | On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 193 - 222 (Roll no. 514). | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H7859-7860) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the motion to recommit, the Chair put the question on the motion and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Schneider demanded the yeas and nays and pursuant to the order of the House of September 18, 2014, the Chair announced that further proceedings would be postponed. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | The previous question on the motion to recommit with instructions was ordered without objection. (consideration: CR H7854) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Schneider motion to recommit with instructions. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the bill to be reported back to the House with an amendment to add a new division at the end of the bill. The new division contains provisions to police excessive speculation in energy markets, protect national security, and prohibit expedited permitting for corporations that relase toxic air pollutants from petroleum coke. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Mr. Schneider moved to recommit with instructions to the Committee on Natural Resources. (consideration: CR H7853-7854; text: CR H7853) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule. (consideration: CR H7853) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | DEBATE - The House proceeded with two hours of debate on H.R. 2. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Resolution provides that each bill may be debatable for 2 hours, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of their respective committees. The bills shall be considered as read, all points of order agains the provisions of the bill are waived, and each bill is provided with one motion to recommit. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 727. (consideration: CR H7819-7854) | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-18 | Floor | Mr. Hastings (WA) asked unanimous consent that the question of adopting a motion to recommit on H.R. 2 may be subject to postponement as though under clause 8 of rule 20. Agreed to without objection. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-16 | Floor | Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 727 Reported to House. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Resolution provides that each bill may be debatable for 2 hours, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of their respective committees. The bills shall be considered as read, all points of order agains the provisions of the bill are waived, and each bill is provided with one motion to recommit. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-16 | Committee | Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law. | House committee actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2014-09-15 | IntroReferral | Introduced in House | Library of Congress |