Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) recently voted against HR 6, the Energy Policy Act. Van Hollen warned Marylanders about a dangerous precedent contained in the fine print of the 1019 page document. Specifically, section 320 of the energy bill enables the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to preempt existing local authority concerning the siting of certain Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facilities. Although the federal preemption in Section 320 of the House bill is limited to LNG “importation” terminals, the authority could easily be expanded in the Senate or at a later date to include the siting of LNG storage facilities, similar to the proposed Washington Gas facility in Chillum, MD.
After backing an unsuccessful amendment to strip the offending federal preemption language from the underlying bill, Van Hollen stated, “I share the concerns that our community has expressed about the proposed LNG facility in Chillum, and those concerns deserve to be heard. I strongly oppose any effort to strip local governments of their authority to make siting decisions with respect to the LNG facilities, and I will continue to fight to make sure that all citizens have the right to participate in decisions that affect their neighborhoods and their lives.”