Proposed legislation related to fossil fuels and utilities: July 17, 2025 – August 15, 2025

Fossil fuels: Natural gas, crude oil, coal. Utilities include pipelines and nuclear.

S.2325 – Restore and Modernize Our National Laboratories Act of 2025. To direct the Secretary of Energy to fund projects to restore and modernize National Laboratories.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). Cosponsored by four Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to Energy and Natural Resources the same day. Still in committee.

July 18, 2025 alert: Transcript of the November 2, 2023 Senate Hearing 118-313 was made available. “Opportunities and Challenges in Deploying Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration and Direct Air Capture Technologies on Federal and Nonfederal Lands.”

H.R.4562 - Sustainable Aviation Fuel Information Act. To make publicly available information on sustainable aviation fuel production and imports.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Mike Flood (R-NE). Cosponsored by five Democrats and one Republican. Referred to Energy and Commerce the same day.
From the bill: As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, shall include in each report titled “Petroleum Supply Monthly” of the Energy Information Administration, each report titled “Weekly Petroleum Status Report” of the Energy Information Administration, and any other relevant report of the Energy Information Administration, as determined by the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, data on sustainable aviation fuel, including—
(1) the type, origin, and volume of feedstock used in the production of sustainable aviation fuel—(A) in each State or, if appropriate, Petroleum Administration for Defense District, as applicable; (B) in the United States; and, (C) to the maximum extent practicable, in each foreign country, as applicable; and,
(2) the total amount of sustainable aviation fuel—(A) produced—(i) in each State, as applicable; and (ii) in the United States; and, (B) imported from—(i) each foreign country, as applicable; and (ii) all foreign countries, as applicable.
Comment: This bill establishes new reporting requirements only.

July 21, 2025 alert: H.Rept.119-193. “Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act.” Bill: H.R.3657.
H.R.3657 passed committee on June 25, 2025 and was placed on the House calendar on July 10. On July 14, 2025, the House passed H.R.3657 under suspension of rules and sent it to the Senate. The Senate referred it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. It is still in committee.
Congress.gov summary: This bill directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to report annually to Congress on the status of the relicensing process for each application for a renewed hydropower dam license.

EC1469: July 21, 2025. Letter from the Associate Director, Regulatory Management Division, Office of Policy, Environmental Protection Agency, transmitting the Agency’s final rule - Air Plan Approval; Missouri; Control of Emissions During Petroleum Liquid Storage, Loading, and Transfer; to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

July 22, 2025, passed the House and referred to the Senate. H.R.131 – Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act. To make certain modifications to the repayment for the Arkansas Valley Conduit in the State of Colorado.
Congress.gov summary: This bill reduces payments that communities within the Arkansas River Valley must pay to the Bureau of Reclamation for the construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a pipeline in Colorado for delivering water from the Pueblo Reservoir to such communities. Specifically, it removes interest payments and extends the repayment period to 100 years.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Cosponsored by Jeff Hurd (R-CO). Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources the same day. July 10, 2025, amended with H. Rept.119-187. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 152.
On July 21, this bill passed the House under suspension of rules and was sent to the Senate. On December 16, the Senate passed H.R.131 and the bill was sent to the president for signature.
President Trump vetoed H.R.131. Lauren Boebert is now seeking to have the president’s veto overturned.
Comment: This appear to be part of Trump’s revenge tour.

H.R.4603 - FAIR Act (Fair, Affordable and Inclusive Rates Act). To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to prohibit State regulatory authorities from approving rates charged by electric utilities that engage in certain diversity, equity, or inclusion practices, or that consider environmental, social, or governance factors.
Introduced July 22, 2025 by John McGuire (R-VA). No cosponsors. Referred to Energy and Commerce the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This would prevent public utility companies from engaging in DEI practices. Surprisingly, no cosponsors. I would have thought House Republicans would have been lining up as part of their Loyalty Oath. It’s less a “fossil fuel” bill and more an anti-DEI screed.

H.R.4705 - ACHE Act of 2025 (Appalachian Communities Health Equity Act of 2025).To place a moratorium on the issuance and renewal of certain Federal authorizations for mountaintop removal coal mining until a health study is conducted.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Morgan McGarvey (D-KY). Cosponsored by six Democrats and no Republicans. No one from West Virginia or Pennsylvania cosponsored. Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce and Transportation and Infrastructure the same day.

H.R.4714 - End Polluter Welfare Act of 2025. To eliminate certain subsidies for fossil-fuel production.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Cosponsored by twenty Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and Transportation and Infrastructure and Natural Resources and Science, Space, and Technology and Energy and Commerce and Agriculture and Appropriations and Financial Services and Foreign Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This bill does not seem to be a radical thing. It’s far less egregious than Gerald Ford’s windfall profit tax (enacted under Carter, but Ford’s idea). This simply stops funding petroleum industry exploration into known, existing fields, and raises the government’s ORRI from 12% to 18%.
Again, that is less egregious than ORRI or other royalties demanded by landowners who are sitting on huge proven reserves. I know. I used to calculate those royalty statements years ago.

S.2427 - Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy Act of 2025. To require certain agencies to impose extendable sunset dates on certain regulations.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by James Risch (R-ID). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources the same day.
Comment: This is 100% an attempt to deregulate without obvious deregulation.

July 25, 2025 alert: Transcript of the November 9, 2023 hearing was made available. “The Implementation of Federal Coal Mine Land Reclamation and Abandoned Coal Mine Land Economic Revitalization Programs.”

H.R.4760 – Cutting LNG Bunkering Red Tape Act. To amend the Natural Gas Act to clarify the treatment of bunkering as an export.
Introduced July 25, 2025 by Laurel Lee (R-FL). Cosponsored by eleven Republicans and no Democrats. Referred to Energy and Commerce the same day.
Comment: Natural gas “bunkering” is the use of liquid natural gas to power ships. This had been illegal prior to 02/28/2025, when Trump’s Department of Energy lifted the ban. Now Republicans want this fuel to count as an export.
Alert July 31, 2025: Watch for future economic reports regarding natural gas imports and exports.
Alert December 31, 2025: I wrote that last sentence above (“watch for…”) in July. Guess what? It is already happening. Reuters reported on September 2 that U.S. LNG exports reached record high, without reporting about Trump’s lifting the ban on bunkering. They were not alone. A couple dozen “reputable” media outlets reported the same.
It would only worsen if H.R.4760 passes…

H.R.4772 – Critical Minerals Investment Tax Modernization Act of 2025. To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to adjust the percentage depletion rate for certain rare earths.
Introduced July 25, 2025 by Adrian Smith (R-NE). Cosponsored by Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), and Eugene Vindman (D-VA). Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means the same day.
Comment: Currently, the minerals defined as “rare earth minerals” are not listed in the IRS schedule regarding depletion rates. This bill would add the “15 lanthanide elements,” otherwise known as rare earth minerals, to the top tier in the schedule, granting them 22% depletion rate.
Since depletion rate for those fifteen minerals has not been defined to date, companies involved in the mining of these minerals may wish to consult with their tax CPAs to determine which depletion rate has been used to date.
For a party and a president who seem to make “rare earth minerals” front and center of so much policy, you’d think they’d have been all over this bill! Guess it has to be their idea.

S.2508 - Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Act of 2025. To give effect to a final rule of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration relating to gas pipeline leak detection and repair.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). Cosponsored by seven Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Since we the people have to stand on our heads and gargle peanut butter to see executive communications, I can only wonder how the many ECs prepared by “Honor Attorneys” (essentially interns) compare to the legislation put forward by Luján. See EC1452++.

EC1411 – July 29, 2025. From the Deputy Associate Director of Offshore Regulatory Programs, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Department of the Interior, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Correcting amendment; Final rule: Bonding Requirements when Filing an Appeal of a Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Civil Penalty.”

EC1413 - July 29, 2025. From the Regional Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Department of the Interior, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Pennsylvania Regulatory Program” (30 CFR Part 938).

EC1417 - July 29, 2025. From the Regional Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Department of the Interior, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustments.”

H.R.4785 - Ethics in Energy Act of 2025. To direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to prohibit covered utilities from recovering covered expenses from ratepayers.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Kathy Castor (D-FL). Cosponsored by eleven Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This bill needs to be enacted! No, it will not bankrupt public utility companies. It merely prevents them from including PAC and other political donations into accounts that are “recovered by ratepayers.”
Impact on you the consumer should this bill pass: If your natural gas supplier lobbies a Texas Republican lawmaker to deregulate their industry, they may not pass that expense on to you, the consumer.
Logical to me!

H.R.4809 - INSPECT Act of 2025 (Increasing Nuclear Safety Protocols for Extended Canister Transfers Act of 2025). To assign a resident inspector to certain commercial nuclear power plants to conduct inspections of decommissioning activities and spent nuclear fuel transfer activities.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Mike Levin (D-CA). Cosponsored by Michael Lawler (R-NY). Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce the same day. Still in committee.

H.R.4818 - Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Act of 2025. To give effect to a final rule of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration relating to gas pipeline leak detection and repair.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Scott Peters (D-CA). Cosponsored by six Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce the same day.
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure referred the bill to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on July 30. It has not moved out of that subcommittee, much less the full committee.

S.2550 - Critical Minerals Partnership Act of 2025. To provide for international cooperation to secure critical mineral supply chains.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Cosponsored by John Curtis (R-UT). Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations the same day.
Committee of Foreign Relations sent this bill to the full House for a vote on October 30, and it was placed on the calendar. No vote as of December 31, 2025.

July 30, 2025 alert: Business meeting to consider the nominations of Lanny Erdos, of Ohio, to be Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and Audrey Robertson, of Colorado, to be an Assistant Secretary (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy), and Timothy John Walsh, of Colorado, to be an Assistant Secretary (Environmental Management), both of the Department of Energy. Meeting Details include video of hearing as well as links to the presidential nominations of all persons. Transcript not available as of December 31, 2025.

July 30, 2025 alert: Transcript of the December 12, 2023 hearing was made available. “Pending Legislation.” Discussions regarding S.1281 (Mining Regulatory Clarity Act) and S.1742 (Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act).

July 31, 2025 alert: Transcript of the January 11, 2024 hearing was made available. “Federal Electric Vehicle Incentives Including the Federal Government’s Role in Fostering Reliable and Resilient Electric Vehicle Supply Chains.”
Comment: This 2024 hearing was less about promoting EVs and more about what even the Democrats on the committee considered Biden’s overreach through executive order. From the transcript:
We should all be concerned when an Administration tries to implement a law that Congress did not pass. And when it comes to EVs, this Administration is implementing the Build Back Better approach they wanted, not the Inflation Reduction Act that we passed.
Too bad Trump Republicans chairing committees since January 2025 have not had the same backbone.

S.2660 - Modern Risk Detection Act of 2025. To amend title 49, United States Code, to protect the use of risk-based approaches by owners and operators of certain pipeline facilities.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by John Curtis (R-UT). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: My father was an old Houston Natural Gas—pipeline!—guy. He hated how his industry could be so flippant regarding pipeline safety. He had lived through the horrible explosion in Wharton, Texas. He was a teenager during the Texas City disaster.
He would hate this bill were he alive to see it. Curtis wants to add a new paragraph to Section 60102 of title 49, United States Code, that would read: The Secretary shall ensure that the standards prescribed under this chapter allow for the use, to the maximum extent practicable, of risk-based approaches, concepts, or principles in complying with those standards.
Doesn’t sound like an issue, right? Unless you live near Wharton, Texas. Or Bammel. In those cases, you would want maximum accountability and minimum risk-taking. “Risk-based approaches” permit a tradeoff between safety and money. No. Stop it. Now.

S.2661 - To allow for the use of risk-based inspections for in-service breakout tanks. (No short title.)
Introduced August 1, 2025 by John Curtis (R-UT). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day. Still in committee.
Snarky comment: Someone check Curtis’ office for lobbyists, please. They must reside there. This bill would add the same “risk-based” language for inspection of breakout tanks.

S.J.Res.74 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration relating to “Pipeline Safety: Editorial Change To Reflect the Name Change of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Whitehouse invokes Chapter 8 of Title 5 of the United States code.

August 1, 2025 alert: Transcript of the February 8, 2024 hearing was made available. “The Administration’s Pause on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Export Approvals and the Department of Energy’s Process for Assessing LNG Export Applications.”

EC1552 - August 2, 2025. From the Deputy Associate Director of Offshore Regulatory Programs, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Department of the Interior, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Remove Regulations for Sulphur Operations.”

EC1553 – August 2, 2025. From the Regulations Specialist, Office of Subsistence Management, Department of the Interior, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Federal Subsistence Management Program; Transfer of Regulations.”

August 2, 2025 alert: Transcript of the February 28, 2024 hearing was made available. “Opportunities and Challenges Associated with Developing Geologic Hydrogen in the United States.”

H.R.4875 - Coal Ash for American Infrastructure Act. To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to establish a framework for the beneficial use of coal combustion residuals.
Introduced August 5, 2025 by Andy Barr (R-KY). No cosponsors. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce the same day. Still in committee.

August 7, 2025 alert: Transcript of the March 21, 2024 hearing was released. “To consider the nominations of Judy W. Chang to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, David Rosner to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Lindsay S. See to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”

August 15, 2025 alert: Transcript of April 16, 2024 hearing was released. “The President’s Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Energy for the Fiscal Year 2025.”
Serious comment: The budget for the Department of Energy was one place where the Trump administration made deep cuts for FY 2026. When things go wrong, let’s be sure to remind them of this fact!

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