Through the NOPR, FERC proposes to let LNG terminal and plant operators perform certain modifications – including, with prior notice, capacity uprates and new liquefaction trains, tanks, and berths – without case-specific authorization orders under Natural Gas Act sections 3 and 7. Comments on the NOPR are due 60 days after Federal Register publication.

On October 15, 2026, in Docket No. RM26-2-001, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”), titled Authorizations for Certain Activities at Liquefied Natural Gas Plants, proposing to amend Parts 2, 153, and 375 of its regulations to authorize certain activities at liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) plants without case-specific applications or orders under section 3 or 7 of the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”). The proposed “LNG blanket program” is modeled on the Commission’s section 7 pipeline blanket certificate program, under which eligible activities proceed automatically or after a prior notice period.¹ It follows a November 20, 2025 notice of inquiry (“NOI”).² Baker Botts represents the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and filed comments on the NOI on their behalf.

The Proposed Three-Tier Structure
Both section 3 LNG terminals and section 7 LNG plants (including peak shaving facilities) would be eligible for the same activities, with some additional section 7 requirements.³ Operators must first obtain a blanket authorization under proposed § 153.104, which the Director of the Office of Energy Projects may grant under delegated authority and which FERC may rescind for non-compliance.⁴

Automatic authorization. This category is limited to activities that do not increase authorized capacity, remain within the authorized footprint and design limits, cause no adverse safety or reliability impacts, and have only minor or no environmental effects. Covered activities include abandonment of degraded or obsolete components, in-kind or upgraded replacements within existing LNG facilities and auxiliary systems, and related pipeline facilities to the extent allowed under the pipeline program. No advance notice or notice to proceed would be required; activities are reported in existing semi-annual operational reports.⁵

60-day prior notice. Replacements, upgrades, modifications, and new components designed to increase authorized capacity that stay within the authorized footprint and design limits are eligible with a 60-day notice period. FERC declined to allow uprates automatically, even where efficiencies are realized during construction, because increased throughput may implicate hazards, safety concerns, and environmental effects, and may require federal agency determinations, updated Emergency Response Plans, or Endangered Species Act consultation.⁶

90-day prior notice. New LNG facilities and auxiliary systems outside the authorized footprint, such as liquefaction trains, tanks, and marine berths, are eligible with a 90-day notice period. Expansions must be within or adjacent to the plant, permanently occupy not more than 25 acres of previously disturbed or developed land or waterway in industrial-zoned or unzoned areas, comply with the underlying authorization’s conditions, and involve facilities of the same type previously authorized at that plant; segmenting projects to meet the acreage limit is prohibited.⁷

Interested parties may protest a prior notice request; if a protest is not withdrawn or dismissed, the project is reviewed as a case-specific application.⁸

Conditions, Notice, and Reporting

Unlike the pipeline program, the LNG program would impose no cost limits, because FERC reasoned that cost is not an appropriate proxy for a project’s effects and section 3 terminals do not raise the same ratepayer concerns.⁹

Other features include standard environmental conditions and limits on effects to sensitive environmental and noise-sensitive areas; annual technical reviews and inspections for terminals and biennial reviews for interstate plants; landowner and municipality notice at least 45 days before construction for automatic activities and within three business days of docketing for prior notice activities; waiver of the NGA section 3A(a) pre-filing requirement; federal agency, state safety, and emergency responder letters for prior notice filings; notices to proceed; a five-year in-service deadline; and semi-annual reporting.¹⁰ FERC proposes no new National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) categorical exclusions; staff will prepare a programmatic NEPA document for automatic-authorization activities and this rulemaking, while prior notice projects will receive project-specific review.

The NOPR begins meaningful permitting reform for LNG facilities. Activities that most often trigger amendment applications – equipment replacements, safety and emissions upgrades, integration with non-jurisdictional facilities, and uprates – would move to automatic or 60-day treatment, and new trains, tanks, and berths could qualify for a 90-day path within a 25-acre envelope. Commissioner Chang concurred, requesting further comment on whether 25 acres is an appropriate proxy for minimal impact and on whether to limit the number of, or require a minimum interval between, expansions beyond an authorized footprint.¹¹ Comments are due 60 days after the NOPR is published in the Federal Register.

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¹ Authorizations for Certain Activities at Liquefied Natural Gas Plants, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 197 FERC ¶ 61,036, at PP 1, 11, 22 (2026) (“NOPR”).
² NOPR at P 20; Authorizations for Certain Activities at Liquefied Nat. Gas Plants, 193 FERC ¶ 61,141 (2025) (“NOI”).
³ NOPR at P 27.
⁴ NOPR at PP 27, 74; proposed 18 C.F.R. §§ 153.104, 375.308(v)(8).
⁵ NOPR at PP 42-43, 80, 93, 102; proposed 18 C.F.R. §§ 153.108(c), 153.109(c).
⁶ NOPR at PP 44-45, 54; proposed 18 C.F.R. § 153.108(d)(1).
⁷ NOPR at PP 55-56; proposed 18 C.F.R. § 153.108(d)(2), (f)(1).
⁸ NOPR at P 32.
⁹ NOPR at PP 23, 65, 68.
¹⁰ NOPR at PP 77, 94, 97, 102, 106, 119-120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 138, 141; proposed 18 C.F.R. §§ 153.103(d), 153.106(b)-(c), 153.107(c), 153.108(e)(10)-(15), (f)(2)-(3).
¹¹ NOPR at PP 43, 54-56, 61; id. (Chang, Comm’r, concurring, at PP 5-6).

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