To establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsors: Mr. Dunn of Florida and Mr. Joyce of …
Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an …
Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Natural Resources discharged; committed …
Ms. Fedorchak introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
On Passage
Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act streamlines the approval process for building and operating oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, and electricity transmission lines that cross U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. It replaces the current Presidential permit system with a new "certificate of crossing" process that has strict deadlines and eliminates the President's ability to revoke permits once issued.
Who Benefits and How
Oil and gas pipeline companies benefit significantly from faster, more predictable approvals. Under this bill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must issue certificates for oil and gas pipelines within 120 days, and natural gas import/export applications from Canada or Mexico must be approved within 30 days. This dramatically reduces the regulatory uncertainty these companies currently face.
Electric utility companies and transmission developers benefit from the removal of requirements under the Federal Power Act that previously allowed blocking cross-border electricity projects. The Secretary of Energy now handles electric transmission permits with the same streamlined 120-day timeline.
Energy infrastructure investors gain protection because the bill prohibits the President from revoking any existing or future permits without Congressional authorization, providing long-term investment certainty.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Environmental review agencies face new hard deadlines that may limit thorough environmental impact assessments under NEPA. The 120-day approval requirement after final NEPA action creates pressure to approve projects.
Communities near border crossings may have reduced opportunity for input, as the streamlined process limits the time available for public comment and environmental review.
Future administrations lose the executive authority to block or revoke permits for cross-border energy projects, even if environmental or foreign policy concerns arise.
Key Provisions
- Creates a mandatory 120-day deadline for issuing "certificates of crossing" for border-crossing energy facilities after NEPA review completion
- Requires approval of natural gas import/export applications from Canada and Mexico within 30 days
- Eliminates the Presidential permit requirement for cross-border oil, gas, and electric transmission projects
- Prohibits the President from revoking any previously issued Presidential permits without Congressional authorization
- Exempts modifications to existing facilities (flow changes, ownership changes, volume adjustments) from requiring new permits
- Grandfathers all facilities already operating or with pending permit applications as of the bill's enactment
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Establishes a uniform process for authorizing international border-crossing facilities for energy infrastructure, including oil, natural gas, and electricity transmission.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Energy
- "the_administrator"
- → None
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Refers to petroleum or a petroleum product.
As defined in the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717a).
Includes changes such as flow direction reversal, ownership change, volume adjustment, interconnection addition or removal, and pump/compressor station adjustments for energy infrastructure facilities.
The portion of an energy infrastructure facility located within 1000 feet of the US international boundary, including oil/natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission lines.
Establishes a process for obtaining certificates of crossing for border-crossing facilities, with specific provisions for oil and natural gas pipelines, as well as electric transmission facilities.
This Act may be cited as the Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology