WASHINGTON – The federal Department of Homeland Security is being asked to study whether the U.S. Coast Guard and federal energy regulators should improve the coordination of their reviews of liquid natural gas terminals.

The study was included in an appropriations bill passed by the Senate this week. It is aimed at pressuring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to postpone a decision on two proposed LNG facilities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts until the Coast Guard finishes its own review of the projects.

The Coast Guard is part of the DHS. Homeland Security officials would have 90 days to report to Congress on whether Coast Guard and FERC reviews should be integrated.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who authored the provision, also sent a letter to FERC on Wednesday asking that the two agencies coordinate their approval process.

It is important, he said, for residents to be aware of any homeland security concerns raised by the Coast Guard before the public comment period closes for FERC’s review.

Currently, the Coast Guard’s risk assessment of Weaver Cove Energy’s plan to put an LNG terminal in Fall River, Mass., may not be finished before FERC’s initial comment period is over. Keyspan Energy has proposed building a terminal in Fields Point in Providence.

In both proposals, the Coast Guard would evaluate security risks, including whether it will be necessary to close any bridges that tankers would travel under to get to the terminals.

Under the Weaver Cove proposal, tankers would pass under the Pell and Mount Hope bridges in Rhode Island, and under Interstate 195’s Braga Bridge and the Brightman Street Bridge, both in Fall River. Tankers going to the Keyspan terminal would pass under Newport’s Pell Bridge.

Natural gas is cooled to liquid form, transported overseas by tankers, then is reheated and converted back to gas at the terminals. Up to 50 tankers a year are expected at each facility – leading to as many as 200 trips annually.

An LNG terminal has also been considered in Maine, most recently on the Passamaquoddy reservation in Washington County. A vote last month authorized tribal leaders to press ahead with the project.