2. GENERAL ENERGY POLICY

Energy policies

The US energy space is governed by a diverse set of laws that direct regulatory action for various aspects of the energy system. A few of the essential ones are listed below.

Federal Power Act

The Federal Water Power Act of 1920 was initially designed to co-ordinate hydroelectric projects in the United States. The act established the Federal Power Commission (later FERC) to license, co-ordinate and regulate hydro projects. In 1935, the law was renamed the Federal Power Act, and extended jurisdiction to the commission over all interstate activities of the wholesale electricity and natural gas industries. The Federal Power Act has seen many amendments since it was first passed; the most recent major changes to the act were passed by Congress as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act is the fundamental environmental law governing the United States. Congress passed the law in 1963 and has amended it many times since, in subsequent pieces of legislation. It sets out regulatory requirements to control air emissions from stationary and mobile sources of emissions. One of its core focus areas is authorising the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards and regulate hazardous air pollutants (EPA, 2017).

National Environmental Policy Act

Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law in 1970. The law requires federal agencies to assess the environmental impacts of their planned actions before pursuing them, including as they relate to permit applications, federal land management actions, and construction of highways or other publicly owned facilities. More specifically, NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare comprehensive environmental impact statements or environmental assessments. The law directs the CEQ to oversee implementation of NEPA (EPA, 2019b). Globally, NEPA is among the more comprehensive approaches to federal environmental reviews and provides an example to other countries looking to introduce similar assessments into their government decision-making processes.

Natural Gas Act

The Natural Gas Act of 1938 establishes the regulatory framework for the natural gas industry. The main focus of the act was to grant the then-Federal Power Commission (now FERC) authority to permit and regulate interstate gas transmission (Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, 2019). A subsequent amendment defined the regulatory process for gas exports, requiring exporters to obtain a permit from the DOE. As part of its review, the DOE must establish that gas exports are not counter to the national interest, though Congress subsequently determined that gas exports to countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement would automatically be in the national interest (DOE, 2019c).