On October 15, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted unanimously to propose a blanket authorization program for liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, allowing eligible activities to proceed without case-specific orders under Sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act. The proposal is a notice of proposed rulemaking (Docket No. RM26-2-001). Comments are due 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

FERC’s Three-Tier System

FERC modeled the program on its 40-year-old blanket certificate program for interstate natural gas pipelines. The proposal sets up three tiers based on how much an activity would change a plant.

Automatic authorization, with periodic reporting, would cover activities that do not increase a plant’s authorized capacity, expand its vertical or horizontal extent within the plant footprint, or push flows, pressures, temperatures, or loads beyond design limits.

A 60-day prior notice would apply to activities that may increase a plant’s authorized capacity but remain within its footprint and do not exceed the design limits of affected or remaining facilities.

A 90-day prior notice would apply to construction of new facilities, such as liquefaction trains, LNG tanks, and marine berths, along with related auxiliary systems, including those outside the plant footprint. This tier would be limited by facility type, location, and size.

The proposal also includes standard environmental and engineering design conditions, along with requirements intended to ensure compliance with applicable laws.

“American energy dominance requires us to build and maintain the energy infrastructure our country needs without unnecessary delay,” said FERC chair Laura V. Swett. “I am immensely proud of FERC’s historic proposal. It shows what can be possible when we combine regulatory excellence, robust safeguards, and a firm commitment to the nation’s energy future. Consumers benefit when more energy infrastructure is online, dependable, and affordable, and FERC is helping make that future a reality.”

Impact On LNG Permitting

Changes at LNG plants generally require case-specific authorization under Sections 3 and 7 today, even for routine work. In an earlier November 2025 notice of inquiry (Docket No. RM26-2-000), the commission cited more than 100 LNG applications since 2006 and its coordination with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the US Coast Guard on safety.

If adopted as proposed, the tiers could shorten the path for the work operators need over a plant’s life, such as modifications, debottlenecking, and added capacity inside an existing footprint. The 90-day tier would extend the same approach to new trains, tanks, and berths. That could matter most at existing terminals, where the site has already been through siting review.

For compression suppliers and packagers, faster approvals for additional liquefaction trains could pull forward equipment orders, since each train relies on large refrigerant compressors and related systems. The impact of expedited approvals depends on how many projects use the program and on other bottlenecks developers still face, such as financing and Department of Energy export authorizations. The latest FERC release didn’t address these issues.

It’s worth noting that the proposal is not final, the final rule may differ, and the FERC release doesn’t say how environmental review, public notice, and protest rights would work under each tier. Under the pipeline program FERC is using as a model, a prior-notice project that draws an unresolved protest moves to case-specific review, and the same mechanism could limit time savings for LNG projects if it carries over.