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Trump's Executive Orders push role of federal government in energy markets
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
....
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to promote private investment in the Nation’s energy infrastructure through:
(a) efficient permitting processes and procedures that employ a single point of accountability, avoid duplicative and redundant studies and reviews, and establish clear and reasonable timetables;
(b) regulations that reflect best practices and best-available technologies;
(c) timely action on infrastructure projects that advance America’s interests and ability to participate in global energy markets;
(d) increased regulatory certainty regarding the development of new energy infrastructure;
(e) effective stewardship of America’s natural resources; and
(f) support for American ingenuity, the free market, and capitalism.
....
Sec. 5. Environment, Social, and Governance Issues; Proxy Firms; and Financing Energy Projects Through the United States Capital Markets. (a) The majority of financing in the United States is conducted through its capital markets. The United States capital markets are the deepest and most liquid in the world. They benefit from decades of sound regulation grounded in disclosure of information that, under an objective standard, is material to investors and owners seeking to make sound investment decisions or to understand current and projected business. As the Supreme Court held in TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc., 426 U.S. 438, 449 (1976), information is “material” if “there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important.” Furthermore, the United States capital markets have thrived under the principle that companies owe a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to strive to maximize shareholder return, consistent with the long-term growth of a company.
(b) To advance the principles of objective materiality and fiduciary duty, and to achieve the policies set forth in subsections 2(c), (d), and (f) of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall, within 180 days of the date of this order, complete a review of available data filed with the Department of Labor by retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in order to identify whether there are discernible trends with respect to such plans’ investments in the energy sector. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall provide an update to the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy on any discernable trends in energy investments by such plans. The Secretary of Labor shall also, within 180 days of the date of this order, complete a review of existing Department of Labor guidance on the fiduciary responsibilities for proxy voting to determine whether any such guidance should be rescinded, replaced, or modified to ensure consistency with current law and policies that promote long-term growth and maximize return on ERISA plan assets.
....
Sec. 7. Reports on the Barriers to a National Energy Market. (a) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, regarding the economic and other effects caused by the inability to transport sufficient quantities of natural gas and other domestic energy resources to the States in New England and, as the Secretary of Transportation deems appropriate, to States in other regions of the Nation. This report shall assess whether, and to what extent, State, local, tribal, or territorial actions have contributed to such effects.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, regarding the economic and other effects caused by limitations on the export of coal, oil, natural gas, and other domestic energy resources through the west coast of the United States. This report shall assess whether, and to what extent, State, local, tribal, or territorial actions have contributed to such effects.
....
Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
....
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to promote private investment in the Nation’s energy infrastructure through:
(a) efficient permitting processes and procedures that employ a single point of accountability, avoid duplicative and redundant studies and reviews, and establish clear and reasonable timetables;
(b) regulations that reflect best practices and best-available technologies;
(c) timely action on infrastructure projects that advance America’s interests and ability to participate in global energy markets;
(d) increased regulatory certainty regarding the development of new energy infrastructure;
(e) effective stewardship of America’s natural resources; and
(f) support for American ingenuity, the free market, and capitalism.
....
Sec. 5. Environment, Social, and Governance Issues; Proxy Firms; and Financing Energy Projects Through the United States Capital Markets. (a) The majority of financing in the United States is conducted through its capital markets. The United States capital markets are the deepest and most liquid in the world. They benefit from decades of sound regulation grounded in disclosure of information that, under an objective standard, is material to investors and owners seeking to make sound investment decisions or to understand current and projected business. As the Supreme Court held in TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc., 426 U.S. 438, 449 (1976), information is “material” if “there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important.” Furthermore, the United States capital markets have thrived under the principle that companies owe a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to strive to maximize shareholder return, consistent with the long-term growth of a company.
(b) To advance the principles of objective materiality and fiduciary duty, and to achieve the policies set forth in subsections 2(c), (d), and (f) of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall, within 180 days of the date of this order, complete a review of available data filed with the Department of Labor by retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in order to identify whether there are discernible trends with respect to such plans’ investments in the energy sector. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall provide an update to the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy on any discernable trends in energy investments by such plans. The Secretary of Labor shall also, within 180 days of the date of this order, complete a review of existing Department of Labor guidance on the fiduciary responsibilities for proxy voting to determine whether any such guidance should be rescinded, replaced, or modified to ensure consistency with current law and policies that promote long-term growth and maximize return on ERISA plan assets.
....
Sec. 7. Reports on the Barriers to a National Energy Market. (a) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, regarding the economic and other effects caused by the inability to transport sufficient quantities of natural gas and other domestic energy resources to the States in New England and, as the Secretary of Transportation deems appropriate, to States in other regions of the Nation. This report shall assess whether, and to what extent, State, local, tribal, or territorial actions have contributed to such effects.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, regarding the economic and other effects caused by limitations on the export of coal, oil, natural gas, and other domestic energy resources through the west coast of the United States. This report shall assess whether, and to what extent, State, local, tribal, or territorial actions have contributed to such effects.
....
This one too:
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Order on the Issuance of Permits with Respect to Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings at the International Boundaries of the United States
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including Article II of the Constitution, which gives the President authority over foreign affairs and the authority to seek the opinions of principal officers, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Presidents have long exercised authority to permit or deny the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure projects at an international border of the United States (cross-border infrastructure). Over the course of several decades, executive actions, Federal regulations, and policies of executive departments and agencies (agencies) related to the process of reviewing applications for Presidential permits, and issuing or denying such permits, have unnecessarily complicated the Presidential permitting process, thereby hindering the economic development of the United States and undermining the efforts of the United States to foster goodwill and mutually productive economic exchanges with its neighboring countries. To promote cross-border infrastructure and facilitate the expeditious delivery of advice to the President regarding Presidential permitting decisions, this order revises the process for the development and issuance of Presidential permits covering the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of certain facilities and land transportation crossings at the international boundaries of the United States.
{snip}
Order on the Issuance of Permits with Respect to Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings at the International Boundaries of the United States
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including Article II of the Constitution, which gives the President authority over foreign affairs and the authority to seek the opinions of principal officers, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Presidents have long exercised authority to permit or deny the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure projects at an international border of the United States (cross-border infrastructure). Over the course of several decades, executive actions, Federal regulations, and policies of executive departments and agencies (agencies) related to the process of reviewing applications for Presidential permits, and issuing or denying such permits, have unnecessarily complicated the Presidential permitting process, thereby hindering the economic development of the United States and undermining the efforts of the United States to foster goodwill and mutually productive economic exchanges with its neighboring countries. To promote cross-border infrastructure and facilitate the expeditious delivery of advice to the President regarding Presidential permitting decisions, this order revises the process for the development and issuance of Presidential permits covering the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of certain facilities and land transportation crossings at the international boundaries of the United States.
{snip}
He made these remarks:
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump at Signing of Executive Order on Energy and Infrastructure | Crosby, TX
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
International Training and Education Center
Crosby, Texas
4:07 P.M. CDT
....
My first order will speed up the process for approving vital infrastructure on our nation’s borders, such as oil pipelines, roads, and railways. It will now take no more than 60 days. That’s a vast improvement. And the President, not the bureaucracy, will have sole authority to make the final decision when we get caught up in problems. (Applause.) We’ll do what’s right.
My second order will modernize regulations for LNG export terminals and encourage new infrastructure financing. It will improve access for workers and operators to maintain electrical lines. And finally, it will stop state-level abuse of water quality certifications — they abuse you; when you’re nowhere near water, they abuse you — from blocking the construction of vital pipeline projects as we rebuild our energy infrastructure. And it will be like never before. It’s already — look at what’s happened over the last two years.
....
Remarks by President Trump at Signing of Executive Order on Energy and Infrastructure | Crosby, TX
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Issued on: April 10, 2019
International Training and Education Center
Crosby, Texas
4:07 P.M. CDT
....
My first order will speed up the process for approving vital infrastructure on our nation’s borders, such as oil pipelines, roads, and railways. It will now take no more than 60 days. That’s a vast improvement. And the President, not the bureaucracy, will have sole authority to make the final decision when we get caught up in problems. (Applause.) We’ll do what’s right.
My second order will modernize regulations for LNG export terminals and encourage new infrastructure financing. It will improve access for workers and operators to maintain electrical lines. And finally, it will stop state-level abuse of water quality certifications — they abuse you; when you’re nowhere near water, they abuse you — from blocking the construction of vital pipeline projects as we rebuild our energy infrastructure. And it will be like never before. It’s already — look at what’s happened over the last two years.
....
