Natural Gas Industry Groups Voice Support for Energy Permitting Reform
Washington, D.C. (May 18, 2023) – Today, the American Forest & Paper Association, the American Public Gas Association, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and the Process Gas Consumers, representing hundreds of manufacturers and public gas companies, issued the following statement coinciding with its submission of a joint letter to Congressional leadership advocating for legislation to reform energy permitting:
“We support and appreciate continued efforts by leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to pass essential energy permitting reform legislation aimed at improving the permitting process. We firmly believe that U.S. infrastructure must provide “all-of-the-above” energy solutions affordably, reliably, and resiliently to American businesses and citizens.
That requires permitting reforms that shorten timelines, reduce delays, protect natural gas consumers, and safeguard the infrastructure needed for the next generation of fuels like renewable natural gas and hydrogen — while also creating a competitive advantage for American manufacturing in the near- and long-term.
Natural gas plays a critical role in manufacturing the products Americans use every day and in supporting a workforce of more than 4.1 million U.S. jobs connected to the natural gas industry. The American Forest & Paper Association, the American Public Gas Association, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and the Process Gas Consumers Group encourage consideration of the following priorities:
· Address excessive litigation delays to infrastructure projects by instituting a statute of limitations for court challenges, enforcing a reasonable schedule and deadline for court proceedings and mandating the random assignment of cases seeking judicial review to judges in a manner to avoid the appearance of favoritism or bias.
· Affirm the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has jurisdiction regarding the regulation of interstate hydrogen pipeline, storage, import and export facilities.
· Amend Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to grant FERC the authority to issue refunds to interstate natural gas transportation customers that were charged unjust and unreasonable rates comparable to its authority under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) to issue refunds to interstate electric transmission customers.”
To view a full copy of the letter, click here.