USAID Energy Investment Activity Attachment C

The activity is divided into several components, including natural gas technical assistance, regional natural gas sector development, and training for regulators and natural gas sector stakeholders. Natural Gas Security of Supply and Missing Primary and Secondary Legislation is a key area of focus for the activity. The goal is to assist BiH in developing a comprehensive natural gas law and secondary legislation that aligns with European Union (EU) and Energy Community (EnC) requirements. This includes assisting the development of primary legislation, such as the State Law on Natural Gas, and secondary legislation, such as regulations and guidelines for the natural gas sector. To achieve this goal, the activity will work with stakeholders to agree on the primary legislation and develop a roadmap for the further development of secondary legislation. The activity will also assist the state and entity ministries in agreeing on the key elements of state and entity laws on natural gas and assist in developing or amending draft state and entity laws on natural gas. In addition, the activity will monitor the progress of transmission pipelines that will transport gas from Russian and non-Russian sources, as well as BiH-accessible liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. This includes developing methodology and assessment criteria to monitor natural gas transmission pipelines and LNG terminal development that can impact BiH security of supply. Regional Natural Gas Sector development is another key component of the activity. The goal is to assist BiH in satisfying the preconditions to join the regional natural gas market and obtaining access to natural gas storage facilities. This includes developing the scope of work for and establishing a Gas Market Working Group and Subgroups, as well as working on developing guidelines on meeting the preconditions to join the regional natural gas market and obtaining access to natural gas storage facilities. The activity will also assess the BiH gas network development in regard to the BiH Energy Strategy development plan and provide assistance to BiH to create legal and regulatory pre-conditions to implement it. This includes developing reports on the gas network development as per the BiH Energy Strategy development plan and establishing/maintaining working relationships with project promoters, particularly with gas transmission. Training for regulators and natural gas sector stakeholders is also a key component of the activity. The goal is to prepare an action plan for the adoption of secondary legislation, for three possible scenarios: (i) only a State electricity law is passed; (ii) a State gas and electricity law is passed; and/or (iii) a Federation Gas Law is passed. The activity will also provide regulatory independence training, including reviewing all BiH, EnC, and EU rules and regulations regarding regulatory independence, sharing findings and recommendations with stakeholders, and developing a plan for regulatory independence trainings and workshops. Overall, the USAID Energy Investment Activity in BiH aims to improve the country's natural gas security of supply and regional market integration, while also promoting regulatory independence and training for regulators and natural gas sector stakeholders.