1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Scenic Trail Viewshed Protection Act . 2. Finding Congress finds that— (1) prior to issuing a certificate of public convenience and necessity under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act ( 15 U.S.C. 717f ) with respect to a pipeline for the transportation of natural gas that will cross a national scenic trail established under section 5 of the National Trails System Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1244 ), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should specifically consider the conservation and recreation value of the land impacted; and (2) if such certificate, or an action taken pursuant to such certificate, is under court review, the court should consider the loss of any natural, cultural, scenic, and recreational values in determining whether an overriding public need for such pipeline exists. 3. Certificates for pipelines that intersect national scenic trails (a) Applicability (1) Pipeline This section applies with respect to a pipeline for the transportation of natural gas that will— (A) intersect a trail described in paragraph (2); or (B) affect the surrounding radius of the viewshed of a trail described in paragraph (2), as determined as the result of a viewshed analysis performed and submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the administering agency of the trail or its cooperative agreement designated partner. (2) Trail A trail described in this paragraph is a national scenic trail established under section 5 of the National Trails System Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1244 ). (b) Determination The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act ( 15 U.S.C. 717f ) for a pipeline described in subsection (a)(1) only if the Commission determines that— (1) the pipeline is the only prudent and feasible alternative to meet an overriding public need