Sponsor
The bill reduces federal regulatory burdens and clarifies exclusions for in-plant and short transfer gas lines—benefiting plant operators and simplifying permitting in designated areas—while increasing safety and oversight risks for local communities, shifting responsibility to states, and advantaging larger firms economically.
Owners and operators of industrial plants (utilities and energy companies) gain clarity that in-plant piping and short transfer lines (<1 mile) are excluded from the federal 'transporting gas' regulation, reducing compliance costs and paperwork for facility operators.
Operators who gather gas in many rural areas (utilities, energy companies and rural operators) may be able to avoid certain pipeline transportation rules when the Secretary designates areas as nonrural, simplifying permitting and day-to-day operations in those areas.
Rural consumers and local communities could face higher safety and environmental risks if fewer gathering lines are subject to federal 'transporting gas' safety and oversight requirements.
State governments and regulators may need to assume greater oversight responsibility, creating potential regulatory gaps or inconsistent standards across states.
Plant owners and large operators could gain a cost advantage over independent midstream companies, shifting economic benefits toward larger firms and potentially reducing competition.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Narrows the federal statutory definition of "transporting gas" by excluding certain rural gathering and short in-plant or short transfer piping used for plant operations.
Senator · R-MT
Revises the federal definition of "transporting gas" in U.S. Code to narrow which gas movements count as transportation. It adds explicit exclusions for (1) certain gathering activity in rural areas that the Secretary has designated nonrural and (2) movement of gas by a plant owner/operator for use in plant operations when the piping stays on plant grounds or the transfer piping extends less than one mile outside plant grounds. The change is technical and focused on terminology and scope; it does not create new programs, deadlines, or funding and only amends a statutory definition used to determine regulatory coverage of gas transport activities.
Official title: Amend title 49, United States Code, to exclude from the definition of "transporting gas" certain movement of gas within, or in the vicinity of, a plant, and for other purposes.
Introduced October 3, 2025 by Timothy Patrick Sheehy · Last progress October 3, 2025