Sec. 1317. Aligning Federal environmental reviews
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Title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 309 the following: Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the heads of Federal agencies likely to have substantive review or approval responsibilities under Federal law, shall develop a coordinated and concurrent environmental review and permitting process for transportation projects when initiating an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ; in this section referred to as NEPA ).
The coordinated and concurrent environmental review and permitting process shall— ensure that the Department and agencies of jurisdiction possess sufficient information early in the review process to determine a statement of a transportation project’s purpose and need and range of alternatives for analysis that the lead agency and agencies of jurisdiction will rely on for concurrent environmental reviews and permitting decisions required for the proposed project; achieve early concurrence or issue resolution during the NEPA scoping process on the Department of Transportation’s statement of a project’s purpose and need, and during development of the environmental impact statement on the range of alternatives for analysis, that the lead agency and agencies of jurisdiction will rely on for concurrent environmental reviews and permitting decisions required for the proposed project absent circumstances that require reconsideration in order to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s obligations under a statute or Executive order; and achieve concurrence or issue resolution in an expedited manner if circumstances arise that require a reconsideration of the purpose and need or range of alternatives considered during any Federal agency’s environmental or permitting review in order to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s obligations under a statute or Executive order.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation and Federal agencies of jurisdiction likely to have substantive review or approval responsibilities on transportation projects shall jointly develop a checklist to help project sponsors identify potential natural, cultural, and historic resources in the area of a proposed project. The purpose of the checklist shall be to— identify agencies of jurisdiction and cooperating agencies; develop the information needed for the purpose and need and alternatives for analysis; and improve interagency collaboration to help expedite the permitting process for the lead agency and agencies of jurisdiction.
Consistent with Federal environmental statutes, the Secretary shall facilitate annual interagency collaboration sessions at the appropriate jurisdictional level to coordinate business plans and facilitate coordination of workload planning and workforce management. The interagency collaboration sessions shall ensure that agency staff is— fully engaged; utilizing the flexibility of existing regulations, policies, and guidance; and identifying additional actions to facilitate high quality, efficient, and targeted environmental reviews and permitting decisions.
The interagency collaboration sessions, and the interagency collaborations generated by the sessions, shall focus on methods to— work with State and local transportation entities to improve project planning, siting, and application quality; and consult and coordinate with relevant stakeholders and Federal, tribal, State, and local representatives early in permitting processes. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall establish a program to measure and report on progress towards aligning Federal reviews as outlined in this section. .
The analysis for chapter 3 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 309 the following: 310. Aligning Federal environmental reviews. .
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Sec. 1317
Aligning Federal environmental reviews
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