Title 15Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§717a Definitions

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 15B— - NATURAL GAS › § 717a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in the chapter. Person: an individual or a business. Corporation: many kinds of business entities, partnerships, trusts, organized groups, and trustees or receivers, but not municipalities. Municipality: a city, county, or other local government or agency. State: any State in the Union, the District of Columbia, or an organized U.S. Territory. Natural gas: plain natural gas or a mix of natural and manufactured gas. Natural-gas company: someone who moves natural gas across state lines or sells it across state lines for resale. Interstate commerce: trade between a place in one State and a place outside it, or trade inside a State that goes through another State, only within the U.S. State commission: the state or local agency that regulates natural gas rates for consumers. Commission and Commissioner: the Federal Power Commission and one of its members. Vehicular natural gas: natural gas used as fuel in vehicles. LNG terminal: onshore or State-waters facilities that receive, store, load, transport, gasify, liquefy, or process imported, exported, or waterborne interstate natural gas, but not the ships that deliver it or pipelines/storage facilities under section 717f.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §717a

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

When used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires—
(1)“Person” includes an individual or a corporation.
(2)“Corporation” includes any corporation, joint-stock company, partnership, association, business trust, organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, receiver or receivers, trustee or trustees of any of the foregoing, but shall not include municipalities as hereinafter defined.
(3)“Municipality” means a city, county, or other political subdivision or agency of a State.
(4)“State” means a State admitted to the Union, the District of Columbia, and any organized Territory of the United States.
(5)“Natural gas” means either natural gas unmixed, or any mixture of natural and artificial gas.
(6)“Natural-gas company” means a person engaged in the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce, or the sale in interstate commerce of such gas for resale.
(7)“Interstate commerce” means commerce between any point in a State and any point outside thereof, or between points within the same State but through any place outside thereof, but only insofar as such commerce takes place within the United States.
(8)“State commission” means the regulatory body of the State or municipality having jurisdiction to regulate rates and charges for the sale of natural gas to consumers within the State or municipality.
(9)“Commission” and “Commissioner” means the Federal Power Commission, and a member thereof, respectively.
(10)“Vehicular natural gas” means natural gas that is ultimately used as a fuel in a self-propelled vehicle.
(11)“LNG terminal” includes all natural gas facilities located onshore or in State waters that are used to receive, unload, load, store, transport, gasify, liquefy, or process natural gas that is imported to the United States from a foreign country, exported to a foreign country from the United States, or transported in interstate commerce by waterborne vessel, but does not include—
(A)waterborne vessels used to deliver natural gas to or from any such facility; or
(B)any pipeline or storage facility subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission under section 717f of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2005—Par. (11). Pub. L. 109–58 added par. (11). 1992—Par. (10). Pub. L. 102–486 added par. (10).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Federal Power Commission;

Transfer of Functions

The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for certain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by section 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a)(1), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 717a

Title 15Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73