§15928 Consultation Regarding Energy Rights-of-way on Public Land

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must, within 6 months after August 8, 2005, sign an 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. As far as the law allows, the Secretary of Energy must also work with Indian tribes, multi-State groups, and State agencies that do separate permitting or review. The agreement must create one right-of-way application form, set a clear process with who is in charge and time limits, coordinate planning, require one environmental review document that all federal agencies use, and make right-of-way conditions consistent. For interstate natural gas pipeline permits, the May 2002 interagency document meets this rule. Not later than 1 year after August 8, 2005, and every 2 years after that, the agencies that signed that document must report to Congress on how they are using it, whether it has sped up reviews, what could be improved, and whether States and tribes should be included. Utility facility means: lines or systems that move oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid fuel, gaseous fuel, or refined products; storage and terminal facilities tied to producing those fuels; or systems that generate, transmit, or distribute electric power.