Amending the Administrative Procedures With Respect to the Import and Export of Natural Gas

Department of Energy (DOE); Fossil Energy.

Direct final rule (DFR); request for comments.

This DFR amends the regulations for the administrative procedures with respect to the import and export of natural gas to update and streamline the general requirements for filing documents with the Office of Fossil Energy (FE). Specifically, this change is made to remove references to offices that no longer exist, allow for the submission of documents online, allow for electronic service, update filing fee instructions, and remove the unnecessary and burdensome requirement that applicants submit multiple copies of applications, filings, and submittals.

The final rule is effective July 15, 2025, unless significant adverse comments are received by June 16, 2025. Significant adverse comments oppose the rule and raise, alone or in combination, a serious enough issue related to each of the independent grounds for the rule that a substantive response is required. If significant adverse comments are received, notice will be published in the Federal Register before the effective date either withdrawing the rule or issuing a new final rule which responds to significant adverse comments.

Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov under docket number DOE-HQ-2025-0010. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. The docket for this final rule, which includes Federal Register notices, comments, and other supporting documents and materials, is available for review at www.regulations.gov. All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure. The docket web page can be found at www.regulations.gov/​docket/​DOE-HQ-2025-0010. The docket web page contains instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket, as well as a summary.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a summary of this rule may be found at regulations.gov, under the docket number.