Protect LNG Act of 2025
The Protect LNG Act of 2025 seeks to shield liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects from the disruptive effects of environmental litigation. It defines certain LNG-related projects as “covered” and directs how courts handle challenges to environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Natural Gas Act (NGA). The bill preserves the validity of permits while environmental challenges are litigated, requires remand to federal agencies to fix any violations (without vacating permits), and establishes expedited, exclusive appellate review in the circuit courts for these covered applications. It also imposes tight deadlines for bringing challenges and provides a mechanism to transfer ongoing cases to the proper court. Overall, the bill prioritizes speed and certainty for LNG export projects, potentially at the expense of broader environmental litigation leverage.
Key Points
- 1Covered applications and facilities: The bill covers applications for exporting natural gas and for siting, constructing, expanding, or operating LNG facilities. A covered facility is one that requires approval by the Secretary of Energy and either the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or the Maritime Administration.
- 2Effect on environmental litigation: A civil action challenging an environmental review for a covered facility does not by itself invalidate the permit, license, or approval already issued.
- 3Remand instead of vacatur: If a court finds a violation of NGA or NEPA, the permit/approval is not vacated. Instead, the matter is remanded back to the federal agency to resolve the violation, and the agency must continue processing all covered applications.
- 4Exclusive, expedited appellate review: Almost all judicial review of agency orders for covered applications must go to the court of appeals (exclusive jurisdiction, with exceptions for the Supreme Court). The court of appeals must expedite these cases and place them on the docket quickly.
- 5Transfer and time limits: Existing actions as of enactment can be transferred to the relevant court of appeals. A 90-day deadline (absent shorter deadlines in related federal law) applies to filing new challenges after a Federal Register notice that a permit/approval is final. A savings clause clarifies that the bill does not create a general right to judicial review or limit other claims about permit terms.