117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
To prohibit the importation of fossil fuels from the Russian Federation, and for other purposes.
March 7, 2022
Mr. McKinley (for himself, Mr. Upton, Ms. Mace, and Mr. Carter of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Reform, Financial Services, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, 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
To prohibit the importation of fossil fuels from the Russian Federation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Regaining Energy Freedom and Undeniable SEcurity and Preserving U.S. Trade Interests Now Act” or the “REFUSE PUTIN Act”.
SEC. 2. Finding; Sense of Congress.
(a) Finding.—Congress finds that exports of liquefied natural gas from the United States to Europe have a lifecycle emissions profile that is 41 percent lower than natural gas that is exported from the Russian Federation to Europe.
(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) any prohibition on the importation of fossil fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal, from the Russian Federation must be offset by an increase in the production of those fossil fuels in the United States;
(2) United States allies in Europe should take similar steps to prohibit the importation of Russian fossil fuels so that the Russian Federation cannot benefit from production of those fossil fuels; and
(3) energy independence is critical to national security and should include the production, use, and export of all available energy sources, including coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and renewables, as well as strategic minerals critical to electric vehicles and other clean energy sources.
SEC. 3. Prohibition on the importation of fossil fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal, from the Russian Federation.
(a) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall prohibit the importation of any fossil fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal, from the Russian Federation.
(b) Exception.—The prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to fossil fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal, that are loaded for transit or in transit to the United States on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Requirements or other restrictions on the export of crude oil.—During any time in which the prohibition under subsection (a) is in effect, the President may not use the authority under section 101(d) of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (42 U.S.C. 6212a(d)) to impose a ban on the export of crude oil from the United States.
SEC. 4. Executive and agency action.
On the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall—
(1) rescind the following executive and secretarial orders:
(A) Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7619; relating to tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad);
(B) Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037; relating to protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis); and
(C) Secretarial Order 3395 (relating to temporary suspension of delegated authority); and
(2) direct each Federal agency (including the Council on Environmental Quality) to, not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act—
(A) identify and repeal any regulation promulgated by the Federal agency that has the intent or effect of substantially reducing the energy independence of the United States; and
(B) issue regulations and guidance to—
(i) reduce the regulatory burden for energy producers in the United States; and
(ii) increase the energy output by those producers.
SEC. 5. Increasing United States production for allies.
(a) Applications for the export of liquefied natural gas.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended—
(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c);
(2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (a) and (b), respectively;
(3) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (c), and moving such subsection after subsection (b), as so redesignated;
(4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: “(1) The Commission shall have the exclusive authority to approve or deny an application for the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a facility to export natural gas from the United States to a foreign country or import natural gas from a foreign country, including an LNG terminal. Except as specifically provided in this Act, nothing in this Act is intended to affect otherwise applicable law related to any Federal agency’s authorities or responsibilities related to facilities to import or export natural gas, including LNG terminals.”; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(d) (1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of the President under the Constitution, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provision of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or foreign government (including any provision of law that prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), including a country that is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports of natural gas.
“(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ means a country the government of which the Secretary of State determines has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism pursuant to—
“(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A));
“(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
“(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or
“(D) any other provision of law.”.
(b) Strategic petroleum reserve.—Section 161 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6241) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of a severe energy supply interruption described in subsection (d), the Secretary may not execute the first drawdown of petroleum products in the Reserve after the date of enactment of this subsection, whether through sale, exchange, or loan, until the Secretary has developed a plan to increase the percentage of Federal lands (including submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf) under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense leased for oil and gas production by the same percentage as the percentage of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that is to be drawn down in that first and subsequent drawdowns, subject to the limitation under paragraph (2).
“(2) LIMITATION.—The plan required by paragraph (1) shall not provide for a total increase in the percentage of Federal lands described in paragraph (1) leased for oil and gas production in excess of 10 percent.
“(3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall prepare the plan required by paragraph (1) in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense.”.
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. may construct, connect, operate, and maintain the pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada at Phillips County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada to the United States as described in the Presidential Permit of March 29, 2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 13101 (April 3, 2019)).
(2) PRESIDENTIAL PERMITS.—No Presidential permit or any other Executive order shall be required for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of the pipeline facilities described in paragraph (1).