15 U.S.C. § 3391a — ‘‘Essential agricultural use’’ defined

Page 2011 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 3392 reasonably available as an alternative for any agricultural use of natural gas, the provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any curtailment of deliveries for such use. (c) Determination of essential agricultural use requirements The Secretary of Agriculture shall certify to the Secretary of Energy and the Commission the natural gas requirements (expressed either as volumes or percentages of use) of persons (or classes thereof) for essential agricultural uses in order to meet the requirements of full food and fiber production. (d) Authority of Secretary of Agriculture to in- tervene The Secretary of Agriculture may intervene as a matter of right in any proceeding before the Commission which is conducted in connection with implementing the requirements of the rule prescribed under subsection (a). (e) Limitation The Secretary of Agriculture may not exercise any authority under this section for the purpose of restricting the production of any crop. (f) Definitions For purposes of this section— (1) Essential agricultural use The term ‘‘essential agricultural use’’, when used with respect to natural gas, means any use of natural gas— (A) for agricultural production, natural fiber production, natural fiber processing, food processing, food quality maintenance, irrigation pumping, crop drying, or (B) as a process fuel or feedstock in the production of fertilizer, agricultural chemi- cals, animal feed, or food, which the Secretary of Agriculture determines is necessary for full food and fiber production. (2) High-priority user The term ‘‘high-priority user’’ means any person who— (A) uses natural gas in a residence; (B) uses natural gas in a commercial es- tablishment in amounts of less than 50 Mcf on a peak day; (C) uses natural gas in any school, hos- pital, or similar institution; or (D) uses natural gas in any other use the curtailment of which the Secretary of En- ergy determines would endanger life, health, or maintenance of physical property. (Pub. L. 95–621, title IV, § 401, Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3394.) § 3391a. ‘‘Essential agricultural use’’ defined For the purposes of section 3391 of this title, the term ‘‘essential agricultural use’’ shall— (1) include use of natural gas in sugar refin- ing for production of alcohol; (2) include use of natural gas for agricultural production on set-aside acreage or acreage di- verted from the production of a commodity (as provided under the Agricultural Act of 1949 [7 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.]) to be devoted to the pro- duction of any commodity for conversion into alcohol or hydrocarbons for use as motor fuel or other fuels; and (3) for the 5-year period beginning on June 30, 1980, include use of natural gas in the dis- tillation of fuel-grade alcohol from food grains or other biomass by facilities in existence on June 30, 1980, which do not have the installed capability to burn coal lawfully. (Pub. L. 96–294, title II, § 273, June 30, 1980, 94 Stat. 711.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Agricultural Act of 1949, referred to in par. (2), is act Oct. 31, 1949, ch. 792, 63 Stat. 1051, which is classified principally to chapter 35A (§ 1421 et seq.) of Title 7, Ag- riculture. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1421 of Title 7 and Tables. CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980 which is title II of the Energy Security Act, and not as part of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 which comprises this chapter. § 3392. Natural gas for essential industrial proc- ess and feedstock uses (a) General rule The Secretary of Energy shall prescribe and make effective a rule which provides that, not- withstanding any other provision of law (other than subsection (b)) and to the maximum extent practicable, no interstate pipeline may curtail deliveries of natural gas for any essential indus- trial process or feedstock use, unless such cur- tailment— (1) does not reduce the quantity of natural gas delivered for such use below the use re- quirement specified in subsection (c); (2) is necessary in order to meet the require- ments of high-priority users; or (3) is necessary in order to meet the require- ments for essential agricultural uses of nat- ural gas for which curtailment priority is es- tablished under section 3391 of this title. (b) Curtailment priority applicable only if alter- native fuel not available The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any curtailment of deliveries for any essential industrial process or feedstock use only if the Commission determines that use of a fuel (other than natural gas) is not economically practicable and that no fuel is reasonably avail- able as an alternative for such use. (c) Determination of essential industrial use re- quirements The Secretary of Energy shall determine and certify to the Commission the natural gas re- quirements (expressed either as volumes or per- centages of use) of persons (or classes thereof) for essential industrial process and feedstock uses (other than those referred to in section 3391(f)(1)(B) of this title). (d) Definitions For purposes of this section— (1) Essential industrial process or feedstock use The term ‘‘essential industrial process or feedstock use’’ means any use of natural gas in