Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§15928 Consultation regarding energy rights-of-way on public land

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 149— - NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY AND PROGRAMS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - OIL AND GAS › Part Part B— - Access to Federal Lands › § 15928

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the Secretary of Energy to, within 6 months after August 8, 2005, make a written agreement with the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense to coordinate all federal permits and environmental reviews for a proposed or existing utility facility on their lands. The Secretary of Energy must also work, as much as the law allows, with Indian tribes, multi‑State groups, and State agencies that do separate permitting or reviews. The agreement must create one right‑of‑way application form, set a clear administrative process with who is in charge, steps, and timeframes, coordinate planning for rights‑of‑way, call for one joint environmental review document for all federal decisions, and align right‑of‑way conditions for consistency. A May 2002 interagency agreement for interstate natural gas pipelines meets this rule. Agencies that signed that agreement must report to Congress by 1 year after August 8, 2005, and every 2 years after, on how they are carrying it out, whether it sped up permits, possible improvements, and recommendations about including State and tribal governments. Utility facility — any public, private, or cooperative system used to (1) move oil, natural gas, synthetic or gaseous fuels, related refined products, or supporting products; (2) store or transfer those products; or (3) generate, transmit, or distribute electric power.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §15928

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Not later than 6 months after August 8, 2005, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Defense with respect to lands under their respective jurisdictions, shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to coordinate all applicable Federal authorizations and environmental reviews relating to a proposed or existing utility facility. To the maximum extent practicable under applicable law, the Secretary of Energy shall, to ensure timely review and permit decisions, coordinate such authorizations and reviews with any Indian tribes, multi-State entities, and State agencies that are responsible for conducting any separate permitting and environmental reviews of the affected utility facility.

(2)The memorandum of understanding shall include provisions that—

(A)establish—

(i)a unified right-of-way application form; and

(ii)an administrative procedure for processing right-of-way applications, including lines of authority, steps in application processing, and timeframes for application processing;

(B)provide for coordination of planning relating to the granting of the rights-of-way;

(C)provide for an agreement among the affected Federal agencies to prepare a single environmental review document to be used as the basis for all Federal authorization decisions; and

(D)provide for coordination of use of right-of-way stipulations to achieve consistency.

(b)(1)With respect to permitting activities for interstate natural gas pipelines, the May 2002 document entitled “Interagency Agreement On Early Coordination Of Required Environmental And Historic Preservation Reviews Conducted In Conjunction With The Issuance Of Authorizations To Construct And Operate Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines Certificated By The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission” shall constitute compliance with subsection (a).

(2)(A)Not later than 1 year after August 8, 2005, and every 2 years thereafter, agencies that are signatories to the document referred to in paragraph (1) shall transmit to Congress a report on how the agencies under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries are incorporating and implementing the provisions of the document referred to in paragraph (1).

(B)The report shall address—

(i)efforts to implement the provisions of the document referred to in paragraph (1);

(ii)whether the efforts have had a streamlining effect;

(iii)further improvements to the permitting process of the agency; and

(iv)recommendations for inclusion of State and tribal governments in a coordinated permitting process.

(c)In this section, the term “utility facility” means any privately, publicly, or cooperatively owned line, facility, or system—

(1)for the transportation of—

(A)oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid fuel, or gaseous fuel;

(B)any refined product produced from oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid fuel, or gaseous fuel; or

(C)products in support of the production of material referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B);

(2)for storage and terminal facilities in connection with the production of material referred to in paragraph (1); or

(3)for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 15928

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73