Small-Scale Natural Gas Exports

The Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is revising its regulations to provide that DOE will issue an export authorization upon receipt of any complete application that seeks to export natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), to countries with which the United States has not entered into a free trade agreement (FTA) requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy (non-FTA countries), provided that the application satisfies the following two criteria: The application proposes to export natural gas in a volume up to and including 51.75 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year (Bcf/yr) (equivalent to 0.14 Bcf per day (Bcf/d)), and DOE's approval of the application does not require an environmental impact statement (EIS) or an environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Applications that satisfy these criteria are requesting authorization for "small-scale natural gas exports," and DOE deems such exports to be consistent with the public interest under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). DOE's regulations regarding notice of applications and procedures conducted on applications do not apply to applications that satisfy these criteria. This regulation is intended to expedite DOE's processing of these applications and reduce administrative burdens for the small-scale natural gas export market.