In recent weeks, the House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Natural Resources considered several legislative proposals that, if enacted, could have substantial impacts on the environmental and energy sectors. On April 30, 2025, the Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing on several pieces of draft legislation, including the Reliable Power Act, which would amend the Federal Power Act (FPA) to provide the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority to review certain federal regulations that may affect the reliable operation of the bulk power system. On May 1, 2025, the Committee on Natural Resources announced that it was scheduled to mark up draft legislation that, among other things, would amend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and provide for certain changes to federal fossil fuel leasing as part of the budget reconciliation bill.

Subcommittee on Energy Hearing

On April 30, 2025, the Subcommittee on Energy reviewed several legislative proposals bearing upon the nation’s energy sector during a hearing entitled “Assuring Abundant, Reliable American Energy to Power Innovation,” including the draft “Reliable Power Act,” which would grant FERC authority to review and block regulations proposed by other agencies that “relate to, or otherwise direct affect, any generating facility in the bulk power system” if FERC finds that the regulation would be likely to have a “significant negative impact on the state of generation adequacy or the reliability of the bulk-power system.” Such authority would enable FERC, for example, to restrict the US Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to promulgate rules imposing emissions restrictions on fossil fuel-powered generation facilities. The Subcommittee also reviewed several additional legislative proposals. Some of the provisions include:

• GRID Power Act – This legislation would direct FERC to issue a rulemaking requiring transmission providers to prioritize and expedite interconnection queue requests for dispatchable generation projects and projects that enhance grid resilience and reliability.
• Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025 – This legislation would allow affected parties to contest the retirement of generation resources for a 5-year period in the event that a retirement causes harm to reliability of the bulk power system. The bill would also require power plants to provide a 5-year advance notice of plans to retire.
• Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act – This legislation would replace the existing Presidential Permit process for authorizing border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity with a statutorily directed process whereby FERC would be authorized to review applications for cross-border oil and gas pipelines, and the Department of Energy would be authorized to review applications for cross-border electric transmission facilities.
• Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025 – This legislation would amend the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to repeal all restrictions on the import and export of natural gas.
• Improving Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act – This legislation would seek to improve coordination among federal and state agencies reviewing applications for the construction of interstate natural gas pipelines and strengthen FERC’s lead agency role under the NGA by requiring schedules, concurrent reviews, and provisions to resolve disputes among permitting agencies.

Committee on Natural Resources Proposed Legislation

On May 6, 2025, the House Committee on Natural Resources met to consider legislative proposals pursuant to the reconciliation directive in Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Among other things, the draft bill would amend NEPA by conferring the following benefits on a project sponsor that elects to pay a fee equivalent to 125 percent of the anticipated costs to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS):

• Deadline for Preparation – EAs will be prepared in six months or less, and EISs will be prepared in one year or less; and
• Administrative and Judicial Review – There will be no administrative or judicial review for an EA or EIS. Any action challenging a finding of no significant impact or record of decision that is associated with such an EA or EIS may not be predicated on an alleged issue with the EA or EIS.

The draft bill would also have implications for federal fossil fuel leasing, including directing the Secretary of the Interior to hold not fewer than 30 lease sales in the Gulf of America during the 15-year period beginning on the date of the statute’s enactment, expanding drilling and mining on public lands, and reducing the Inflation Reduction Act’s oil and gas royalty increase from 16.67percent to 12.5 percent.

Counsel will continue to monitor the progression of these legislative proposals.