FACT SHEET: H.R. 1 – The Lower Energy Costs Act

Unleashing American energy abundance will lower costs for hard-working families and provide the economic prosperity and security necessary for our Nation’s future.

H.R. 1 Unleashes American Energy Production

Energy permeates every aspect of the American economy. Harnessing American energy abundance is critical to slashing inflation, ushering in broad-based economic growth, safeguarding American security, and bolstering American strength for decades to come. The Lower Energy Costs Act:

• Opens federal lands and waters for resource development by requiring the Department of Interior to resume lease sales. Ensures greater transparency for the responsible and accountable stewardship of American resources for fulfilling U.S. energy needs.
• Streamlines the process of providing American energy at home and abroad by repealing all restrictions on importing and exporting natural gas, including liquified natural gas.
• Tackles the U.S. refining crisis by committing to increasing U.S. refining capacity, cutting excessive red tape for critical projects, and strengthening our energy supply chains.
• Removes energy export barriers to advance U.S. energy market access abroad, increasing American energy security and prosperity and enhancing our ability to provide additional energy security to our allies.

H.R. 1 Reforms the Broken Permitting Process

America’s energy future depends on a predictable and efficient regulatory environment that encourages low-cost, reliable domestic production. The U.S. must streamline excessive red tape to allow the Nation to build critical infrastructure while protecting the environment, rather than keeping us beholden to build-nothing activists in a denial-by-delay process. The Lower Energy Costs Act:

• Brings new energy projects online faster by reforming the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process to streamline federal reviews for all sectors of the economy.
• Prevents overreach and encourages new energy investment by limiting the scope of environmental review under NEPA to only those impacts that are reasonably foreseeable and economically material.
• Streamlines litigation to prevent unnecessary delays by establishing reasonable deadlines to file claims on critical infrastructure projects, including energy and mining.
• Ends the abuse of the water quality certification process that has repeatedly been weaponized against much-needed, viable energy projects. Streamlines the permitting process under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and appropriately limits review to water quality impacts only.

H.R. 1 Confronts the Biden Administration’s War on American Energy

The war on American energy has made the Nation increasingly dependent on foreign producers, exposed our grid to chronic failures and blackouts, and crushed Americans under the weight of rampant energy inflation. The Lower Energy Costs Act:

• Repeals excessive royalties and fee increases on U.S. energy production that raise consumer costs and reverberate throughout the economy.
• Repeals the Biden Administration’s disastrous natural gas tax that increases family utility costs.
• Prohibits the president from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing.
• Addresses harmful “Green New Deal” spending that undermines American energy independence and funnels taxpayer dollars to special interests by rolling back the $27 billion unaccountable Environmental Protection Agency fund established by the Climate and Tax package passed in 2022.

H.R. 1 Secures America’s Critical Mineral Supply Chains to Reduce Reliance on Foreign Adversaries

The future of America’s energy security, independence, and national security increasingly depends upon reliable access to critical minerals. The Lower Energy Costs Act:

• Requires ongoing assessment of the Nation’s supply chain for critical minerals, including identifying supply chain vulnerabilities and impediments to domestic production.
• Directs the Secretary of Energy to strengthen critical energy resource supply chains by diversifying sourcing and increasing domestic production, refining, and processing of minerals.
• Recognizes the importance of liberating the U.S. from China-dominated critical mineral supply chains and streamlines the permitting process for critical mineral processing and refining facilities at home.