The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that would allow the expedited approval of small-scale shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The H.R. 4606, the Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act, was approved by a 260-to-146 vote.
The bill, authored by Rep. Bill Johnson and Rep. Gene Green, will “open-up new markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, and preserve existing environmental laws to ensure that small-scale export facilities receive the proper review.”
The legislation also codifies in statute a rule recently finalized by the Department of Energy (DOE) to expedite approval for small-scale LNG exports.
“Thanks to our enormous domestic natural gas resource base, the United States is uniquely positioned to compete on a global level for LNG markets,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden and #SubEnergy Chairman Fred Upton said in a statement.
“By streamlining DOE’s process for approving small-scale shipments of LNG, this will diversify our allies’ supply choices who look to us to meet their natural gas needs. This bipartisan legislation will also boost our economy by creating thousands of jobs as well as strengthen our hand diplomatically,” they said.