Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens FERC’s consideration of climate and environmental justice—reducing pollution burdens and forcing earlier mitigation planning—at the cost of higher compliance expenses, more permit disputes, and possible delays or restrictions on projects that could affect local energy reliability and prices.
Environmental justice communities (racial/ethnic minorities, low-income neighborhoods, Indigenous/tribal communities) would face fewer new pollution burdens because FERC must evaluate disproportionate harms and may limit siting or expansion in those communities.
Large energy projects emitting ≥100,000 tCO2e/year would be presumed climate-significant, making greenhouse‑gas impacts more likely to trigger mitigation requirements or denial.
FERC must quantify and weigh GHG emissions and environmental harms against project benefits, increasing transparency and more comprehensive decisionmaking for regulators, local governments, and the public.
Energy developers and utilities would face higher compliance costs and likely application delays because they must quantify GHGs, propose mitigation, and may receive additional permit conditions.
Some projects deemed necessary for grid reliability or affordability could be delayed or blocked by the stricter review, potentially raising local energy prices or harming supply stability.
Stricter environmental review may increase permit litigation and administrative burden, raising costs for applicants and, indirectly, consumers and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires FERC to weigh GHG emissions and environmental justice impacts in Natural Gas Act certificate decisions, with applicant mitigation plans and a presumptive 100,000 tCO2e/yr threshold.
Official title: To confirm and clarify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's obligation to assess and mitigate the impacts to climate change and environmental justice communities from projects approved pursuant to the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Sean Casten · Last progress December 3, 2025
Adds a new environmental-justice and greenhouse-gas test to FERC’s certificate review for natural gas facilities and related actions: FERC must assess and weigh significant environmental effects (including impacts on environmental justice communities) and quantified GHG emissions when deciding whether a proposed facility is required by public convenience and necessity. Applicants must include mitigation proposals with certificate applications; FERC must attach practicable mitigation measures or explain why reducing impacts below significance thresholds is not practicable. The bill sets a presumptive GHG significance threshold of at least 100,000 metric tons CO2-equivalent per year (20-year GWP per latest IPCC assessment) and defines key terms used for implementation.