WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02), and colleagues filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear or rehear en banc City of Port Isabel v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The amicus brief aims to ensure that federal courts correctly interpret and apply the Natural Gas Act, which encourages the development of natural gas resources and infrastructure. The brief highlights the interest to protect American jobs, strengthen national security, and restore energy independence.
“In the Natural Gas Act (NGA), Congress said that building LNG facilities is strongly in the public interest of the United States. NGA Section 3 sets up a ‘general presumption favoring authorization’ of LNG facilities. To that end, Congress dictated that FERC ‘shall’ approve an application to export natural gas ‘unless, after opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed exportation . . . will not be consistent with the public interest.’ […] The Commission’s job is to approve LNG facilities unless they are clearly ‘not . . . consistent’ with the public interest. It is not the Court’s job to make the public-interest determination for FERC by deciding that environmental whimsy is more important than building LNG facilities,” wrote the members.
“In this case, the federal regulators at FERC did what Congress asked them to do: they considered and explained the environmental effects of their decision to fulfill the public interest. Then they approved the construction of these much-needed LNG facilities in South Texas. The panel should have let FERC’s decision stand. Instead, the panel used NEPA to elevate other interests over the public interest dictated by Congress. Most critically, the panel barely mentioned the NGA’s presumption in favor of exporting LNG, much less tried to reconcile that statutory mandate with its use of NEPA to vacate FERC’s approval,” continued the members.
“Building LNG facilities is in the public interest, sometimes irrebuttably so. Congress established this strong regime for LNG production to promote domestic economic growth. Its effects are particularly felt in Texas, Louisiana, and other energy producing States, given the abundant energy resources in such States and their access to global markets. This regime is intended to reduce America’s reliance on imported energy from foreign adversaries and protect the Nation’s security, particularly at a time when our allies and partners are seeking trusted and reliable sources of LNG. Respectfully, federal courts cannot overcome such critical, congressionally established public interests by insisting on more paperwork,” concluded the members.
Cassidy, Cruz, and Crenshaw are joined by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA-01), Brian Babin (R-TX-36), Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26), Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-34), Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38), August Pfluger (R-TX-11), and Randy Weber (R-TX-14) on the amicus brief.
Read the full amicus brief here.
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