Protect LNG Act of 2025

Summary

Limits how courts can challenge federal approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects by requiring courts to remand flawed environmental reviews to agencies instead of vacating permits, and by sending all legal challenges to the federal Court of Appeals for the circuit where the facility is or will be located. It also forces expedited treatment of those appeals, sets a 90-day filing deadline tied to the Federal Register notice, and defines key terms used for covered applications and facilities. The result is more regulatory continuity for LNG projects (permits stay in effect while agencies correct review problems) and a faster, narrowly routed judicial process for litigants, with trade-offs for environmental challengers and potential impacts on affected communities and agencies responsible for reviews.

Key Points

• Defines covered applications and covered facilities for LNG export projects and names the Secretary of Energy as the relevant official.
• Bars courts from vacating permits for covered LNG facilities when environmental reviews are found deficient; courts must remand to agencies instead.
• Requires continued agency processing of covered applications even after judicial findings of review defects.
• Channels all legal challenges to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the circuit where the facility is or will be located and requires expedited handling.
• Establishes a 90-day deadline to file petitions for review measured from the Federal Register notice (unless a shorter statutory deadline applies).
• Provides procedures to transfer petitions already filed in other courts into the designated circuit court of appeals.
• Does not create new rights to judicial review and does not eliminate claims about permit violations or noncompliance.
• Aims to provide regulatory certainty and continuity for LNG projects at the cost of limiting the immediate judicial remedy of vacatur.

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