Peace Garden News

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak's legislation, the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act, has been included in Section 41002 of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Budget Reconciliation Energy Subtitle. This provision aims to improve North American energy collaboration and enhance U.S. energy security through partnerships with Canada and Mexico. It seeks to streamline the permitting process for projects connecting U.S. energy resources with international markets, offering more certainty to developers, regulators, and allies.

"For too long, energy developers have faced an unpredictable, outdated permitting process that has delayed or even canceled critical infrastructure projects—costing jobs and weakening American energy security," Fedorchak stated. "The Keystone XL pipeline should have been a wake-up call."

The act proposes a streamlined approach for approving facilities managing oil, natural gas, and electricity transmission imports and exports. It introduces a Certificate of Crossing system to simplify processes previously requiring presidential permits. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will oversee applications for oil and natural gas pipelines, while the Department of Energy (DOE) will handle electric transmission facility applications.

Key elements include specific deadlines for issuing certificates by FERC and DOE and requiring Congressional approval before revoking any previously issued permits related to border-crossing energy infrastructure.

This legislation provides regulatory certainty for developers and protects infrastructure from political changes while strengthening U.S. partnerships with Canada and Mexico.