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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 719f. Congressional review
(a) Effectiveness of decision designating transportation system for
approval upon enactment of joint resolution
Any decision under section 719e(a) of this title or subsection
(b) of this section designating for approval a transportation
system for the delivery of Alaska natural gas shall take effect
upon enactment of a joint resolution within the first period of 60
calendar days of continuous session of Congress beginning on the
date after the date of receipt by the Senate and House of
Representatives of a decision transmitted pursuant to section
719e(b) of this title or subsection (b) of this section.
(b) New decision: statement of reasons for proposal; transmittal to
Congress
If the Congress does not enact such a joint resolution within
such 60-day period, the President, not later than the end of the
30th day following the expiration of the 60-day period, may propose
a new decision and shall provide a detailed statement concerning
the reasons for such proposal. The new decision shall be submitted
in accordance with section 719e(a) of this title and transmitted to
the House of Representatives and the Senate on the same day while
both are in session and shall take effect pursuant to subsection
(a) of this section. In the event that a resolution respecting the
President's decision was defeated by vote of either House, no new
decision may be transmitted pursuant to this subsection unless such
decision differs in a material respect from the previous decision.
(c) Sessions of Congress
For purposes of this section -
(1) continuity of session of Congress is broken only by an
adjournment sine die; and
(2) the days on which either House is not in session because of
an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain are excluded
in the computation of the 60-day calendar period.
(d) Rules under rulemaking powers of Congress; change of rules;
"resolution" defined; referral to Congressional committees;
debate limitation; motion for consideration of resolution; debate
on resolution; nondebatable motions and appeals from procedural
decisions
(1) This subsection is enacted by Congress -
(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of each House of
Congress, respectively, and as such it is deemed a part of the
rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with
respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case
of resolutions described by paragraph (2) of this subsection; and
it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is
inconsistent therewith; and
(B) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either
House to change the rules (so far as those rules relate to the
procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to
the same extent as in the case of any other rule of such House.
(2) For purposes of this chapter, the term "resolution" means (A)
a joint resolution, the resolving clause of which is as follows:
"That the House of Representatives and Senate approve the
Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation
system submitted to the Congress on _____, 19 , and find that any
environmental impact statements prepared relative to such system
and submitted with the President's decision are in compliance with
the Natural (!1) Environmental Policy Act of 1969."; the blank
space therein shall be filled with the date on which the President
submits his decision to the House of Representatives and the
Senate; or (B) a joint resolution described in subsection (g) of
this section.
(3) A resolution once introduced with respect to a Presidential
decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system shall be
referred to one or more committees (and all resolutions with
respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas
transportation system shall be referred to the same committee or
committees) by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, as the case may be.
(4)(A) If any committee to which a resolution with respect to a
Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation
system has been referred has not reported it at the end of 30
calendar days after its referral, it shall be in order to move
either to discharge such committee from further consideration of
such resolution or to discharge such committee from consideration
of any other resolution with respect to such Presidential decision
on an Alaska natural gas transportation system which has been
referred to such committee.
(B) A motion to discharge may be made only by an individual
favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it
may not be made after the committee has reported a resolution with
respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas
transportation system), and debate thereon shall be limited to not
more than 1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring and
those opposing the resolution. An amendment to the motion shall not
be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the
vote by which the motion was agreed to or disagreed to.
(C) If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed to, the
motion may not be made with respect to any other resolution with
respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas
transportation system.
(5)(A) When any committee has reported, or has been discharged
from further consideration of, a resolution, but in no case earlier
than 30 days after the date of receipt of the President's decision
to the Congress, it shall be at any time thereafter in order (even
though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to)
to move to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. The
motion shall be highly privileged and shall not be debatable. An
amendment to the motion shall not be in order, and it shall not be
in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was
agreed to or disagreed to.
(B) Debate on the resolution described in paragraph (2)(A) of
this subsection shall be limited to not more than 10 hours and on
any resolution described in subsection (g) of this section to one
hour. This time shall be divided equally between those favoring and
those opposing such resolution. A motion further to limit debate
shall not be debatable. An amendment to, or motion to recommit the
resolution shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to
move to reconsider the vote by which such resolution was agreed to
or disagreed to or, thereafter within such 60-day period, to
consider any other resolution respecting the same Presidential
decision.
(6)(A) Motions to postpone, made with respect to the discharge
from committee, or the consideration of a resolution and motions to
proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided
without debate.
(B) Appeals from the decision of the Chair relating to the
application of the rules of the Senate or the House of
Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedures relating to
a resolution shall be decided without debate.
(e) Presidential finding respecting and supplementation or
modification of environmental impact statement; submittal to
Congressional committees
The President shall find that any required environmental impact
statement relative to the Alaska natural gas transportation system
designated for approval by the President has been prepared and that
such statement is in compliance with the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]. Such finding shall be
set forth in the report of the President submitted under section
719e of this title. The President may supplement or modify the
environmental impact statements prepared by the Commission or other
Federal officers or agencies. Any such environmental impact
statement shall be submitted contemporaneously with the transmittal
to the Senate and House of Representatives of the President's
decision pursuant to section 719e(b) of this title or subsection
(b) of this section.
(f) Report of Commission: submittal to Congress; Council on
Environmental Quality: hearings, report, submittal to Congress;
Congressional committee hearings
Within 20 days of the transmittal of the President's decision to
the Congress under section 719e(b) of this title or under
subsection (b) of this section, (1) the Commission shall submit to
the Congress a report commenting on the decision and including any
information with regard to that decision which the Commission
considers appropriate, and (2) the Council on Environmental Quality
shall provide an opportunity to any interested person to present
oral and written data, views, and arguments on any environmental
impact statement submitted by the President relative to any system
designated by him for approval which is different from any system
reported on by the Commission under section 719c(c) of this title,
and shall submit to the Congress a report summarizing any such
views received. The committees in each House of Congress to which a
resolution has been referred under subsection (d)(3) of this
section shall conduct hearings on the Council's report and include
in any report of the committee respecting such resolution the
findings of the committee on the legal and factual sufficiency of
any environmental impact statement submitted by the President
relative to any system designated by him for approval.
(g) Waiver; submittal to Congress
(1) At any time after a decision designating a transportation
system is submitted to the Congress pursuant to this section, if
the President finds that any provision of law applicable to actions
to be taken under subsection (a) or (c) of section 719g of this
title require waiver in order to permit expeditious construction
and initial operation of the approved transportation system, the
President may submit such proposed waiver to both Houses of
Congress.
(2) Such provision shall be waived with respect to actions to be
taken under subsection (a) or (c) of section 719g of this title
upon enactment of a joint resolution pursuant to the procedures
specified in subsections (c) and (d) of this section (other than
subsection (d)(2) thereof) within the first period of 60 calendar
days of continuous session of Congress beginning on the date after
the date of receipt by the Senate and House of Representatives of
such proposal.
(3) The resolving clause of the joint resolution referred to in
this subsection is as follows: "That the House of Representatives
and Senate approve the waiver of the provision of law ( ) as
proposed by the President, submitted to the Congress on , 19
." The first blank space therein being filled with the citation to
the provision of law and the second blank space therein being
filled with the date on which the President submits his decision to
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(4) In the case of action with respect to a joint resolution
described in this subsection, the phrase "a waiver of a provision
of law" shall be substituted in subsection (d) of this section for
the phrase "the Alaska natural gas transportation system.".
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