A House Republican from Ohio introduced a bill to expedite decision-making on permits for the construction of liquefied natural gas export terminals.
Rep. Bill Johnson, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced H.R. 351 that would cap at 30 days the amount of time the Energy Department could deliberate on a permit application — once the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has completed an environmental impact study on the application.
“With our vast LNG resources, we have a chance to help our global allies and ourselves, and this bipartisan bill will ensure we don’t squander the opportunity before us,” E&C Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said of Johnson’s bill in a Jan. 14 statement after the bill was introduced.
Natural gas usually is exported in large ocean-going vessels. The terminals receive natural gas via pipeline and then liquefy it for shipping.
Upon arrival at its destination, the LNG is allowed to expand into a gas and then is used for heating or industrial purposes.
Upton’s committee staff said a similar bill was passed by the 2013-2014 House, but the legislation did not make it through the Senate.
A small portion of the LNG market is devoted to truck fuel. Tanks keep the fuel cooled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit until the LNG is used in a natural-gas truck engine.
