Lower Energy Costs Act

Lower Energy Costs Act DIVISION A--INCREASING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION, EXPORTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND CRITICAL MINERALS PROCESSING (Sec. 10001) In carrying out the Department of Energy Organization Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) must assess the supply of critical energy resources that are essential to the energy security of the United States, facilitate the development of strategies to strengthen the supply chains for those resources, develop substitutes and alternatives to those resources, and improve technology that reuses and recycles critical energy resources. (Sec. 10002) This section prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation. This section also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. (Sec. 10003) DOE must direct the National Petroleum Council to publish a report on petrochemical refineries located in the United States. The report must include information concerning (1) the contributions of such refineries to U.S. energy security, (2) a projection for expanding the capacities of the refineries, (3) any federal or state executive actions that have contributed to a decline in their capacities, and (4) any recommendations to increase such capacities. (Sec. 10004) This section establishes a new process for permitting the construction and operation of energy infrastructure across an international border of the United States. Thus, it replaces the existing process established under specified executive orders. This section requires a person to obtain a certificate of crossing before constru