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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations order issued in January 2020.28 As indicated, each of these orders approves the requested short-term exports on a non-additive basis to the previously approved long-term exports for each authorization holdermeaning without any increase in the total export volume for the respective facility or facilities.
Additionally, in every short-term order issued for non-FTA exports under NGA section 3a, DOE has evaluated its obligations under NEPA. In each order, DOE determined that the approval of the application will not result in any incremental environmental impacts as compared to the environmental impacts previously reviewed for the corresponding long-term authorizations.29 DOE also found that approval of each application would not require additional construction or modification to the previously approved facilities.30 Accordingly, in every shortterm order for non-FTA exports to date, DOE has granted the non-FTA portion of the application, in part, based on a categorical exclusion from the preparation of an EA or EIS under NEPA 31 specifically, categorical exclusion B5.7 under DOEs regulations at 10 CFR part 1021, subpart D, appendix B.32

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III. Policy Statement Nearly five years ago, in January 2016, DOE issued its first short-term LNG
export authorization to Sabine Pass to supplement its existing long-term LNG
export authorizations.33 Since that time, the U.S. market for natural gasand, in particular, the LNG export markethas matured, as has DOEs understanding of the administrative burdens associated with implementing its regulatory program under NGA section 3. Upon review, DOE has determined that it is no longer necessary to issue separate longterm and short-term authorizations to export natural gas from the same facility or facilities for the same authorization 28 Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, DOE/FE Order No. 4487, FE Docket No. 19133LNG, Order Granting Blanket Authorization to Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Free Trade Agreement and Non-Free Trade Agreement Nations, at 1415 Jan. 15, 2020
Ordering Paras. A, B.
29 See, e.g., id. at 12.
30 See, e.g., id. at 1213.
31 See, e.g., id. at 1213, 14 Findings Para. 3.
32 10 CFR part 1021, Subpt. D, App. B, Categorical Exclusion B5.7 providing a categorical exclusion where approvals or disapprovals of authorizations to import or export natural gas under NGA section 3 involve minor operational changes, but not new construction. DOE notes that, on January 4, 2021, an amended form of this B5.7 categorical exclusion will take effect. See U.S. Dept of Energy, National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures; Final Rule, 85 FR 78197 Dec. 4, 2020
effective date of Jan. 4, 2021.
33 See supra note 21.

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holder. If an authorization holder has a long-term export order tied to contracts of two years or longer, but wishes to export a subset of that approved volume on a short-term or spot market basis under transactions with terms of less than two years including commissioning volumes prior to the start of a facilitys commercial operations 34, DOE finds that it is beneficial to provide both types of authority in a single consolidated order going forward.
As an initial matter, DOEs regulations implementing NGA section 3 do not address the terms of an applicants natural gas supply or sales contracts, nor do they distinguish between types of export authority on this basis.35
Therefore, there is no legal requirement for DOE to continue issuing separate short-term and long-term authorizations on a non-additive basis from the same facility.
DOE also finds that there are no practical benefits to continuing to separate these types of authorizations.
DOE developed this approach in 2016
during a rapidly evolving regulatory period for exports of LNG and other forms of natural gas. At this point, however, DOEs regulatory practice is well established, U.S. companies have been exporting domestically produced LNG from the lower 48-states around the globe for nearly five years,36 and the need for U.S. exporters to have operational flexibility to compete in the global marketplace is greater than ever.37 Based on its analysis of the U.S.
natural gas market, DOE/FE believes this action is in the public interest under NGA section 3.
Accordingly, under this policy statement, DOE is establishing that certain long-term authorizations to export domestically produced natural gasincluding LNG, compressed natural gas, and compressed gas 34 Cf. U.S. Dept of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, LNG Monthly, at 38 Nov. 2020, available at: https www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/
11/f80/LNG%20Monthly%202020_4.pdf defining commissioning cargoes as pre-commercial cargos loaded while export facility operations are still undergoing final testing and inspection, and stating that commissioning cargos may occur multiple times for the same facility as individual LNG trains enter service.
35 See supra II.A discussing DOEs regulations implementing NGA section 3 at 10 CFR part 590.
36 Indeed, after four years exporting at marketbased levels, the United States has become one of the top three LNG exporters in the world. See Term Extension Policy Statement, 85 FR 52244 Aug. 25, 2020.
37 DOE recently discussed the benefits associated with increasing operational flexibility for U.S.
exporters, including but not limited to providing economic benefits and improving energy security for the United States and its allies. See id. at 85 FR
52244 Aug. 25, 2020.

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liquidwill include authority to export the same approved volume pursuant to transactions with terms of less than two years on a non-additive basis including non-additive commissioning volumes to be exported prior to the start of a facilitys commercial operations.
This policy statement applies only to future long-term authorizations to export natural gas.38 Concurrently with this policy statement, DOE is issuing a blanket order that i amends existing long-term export authorizations to include short-term export authority under NGA section 3a and c, and ii vacates DOEs existing short-term orders and short-term export authority granted in other orders in light of DOEs action to consolidate this authority in each corresponding long-term authorization.39 DOE has included a list of the affected export authorizations in that order.
IV. Administrative Benefits In this policy statement, DOE is not proposing any new requirements for applicants or authorization holders under 10 CFR part 590. Rather, DOEs objective to streamline DOEs administrative process and to minimize administrative burdens and uncertainty on the U.S. natural gas industry by conserving resources that would be utilized to apply for and process shortterm export authorizations, respectively, without any incremental benefit to the public.
V. Approval of the Office of the Secretary The Secretary of Energy has approved publication of this policy statement.
Signing Authority This document of the Department of Energy was signed on December 18, 2020, by Steven Winberg, Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the 38 As noted, this policy statement does not apply to long-term export authorizations involving modes of transport other than by marine vessel, including but not limited to orders authorizing exports of natural gas by pipeline.
39 See U.S. Dept of Energy, DOE/FE Order No.
4641, FE Docket Nos. 1085LNG, et al., Order Amending Long-Term Authorizations for the Export of Natural Gas to Include Short-Term Export Authority on a Non-Additive Basis, and Vacating Related Short-Term Authority in Separate Orders Dec. 18, 2020.

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