A House source indicated Thursday that a contentious provision may be struck from the Coast Guard reauthorization bill (HR 2830) that would require the Department of Homeland Security to sign off on liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

The report came just days after Rep. John Mica (R-FL) urged Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to remove sections in the Coast Guard bill that he says would block imports of LNG into the United States (see Daily GPI, Nov. 1).

Mica is the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over the Coast Guard measure. The House Energy and Commerce Committee was scheduled to mark up the bill on Tuesday but postponed its review until not later than Nov. 16. The House energy panel will be the fourth and last committee to vote on the measure.

The controversial provision, which was written by LNG foe Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), would prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from approving any construction or expansion of an LNG regasification facility unless the secretary of Homeland Security first conducts a security review and signs off on the project.

“This language would significantly change the new approval process that was included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [EPAct],” Mica wrote in a letter to Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House energy panel, last month. EPAct specifically gave FERC exclusive jurisdiction over the approval and siting of LNG facilities.

©Copyright 2007Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.