Sec. 1301. Efficient environmental reviews for project decisionmaking and One Federal Decision
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Section 139 of title 23, United States Code, is amended— in the section heading, by striking and inserting decisionmaking ; decisionmaking and One Federal Decision in subsection (a)— by redesignating paragraphs
(2)through
(8)as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (8), (9), (10), and (11), respectively; by inserting after paragraph
(1)the following: The term authorization means any license, permit, approval, finding, or other administrative decision related to the environmental review process that is required under Federal law to site, construct, or reconstruct a project. The term environmental document includes an environmental assessment, finding of no significant impact, notice of intent, environmental impact statement, or record of decision under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). ; in subparagraph
(B)of paragraph
(5)(as so redesignated), by striking process for and completion of any environmental permit and inserting process and schedule, including a timetable for completion of any permit ; and by inserting after paragraph
(6)(as so redesignated) the following: The term major infrastructure project means a project for which— multiple permits, approvals, reviews, or studies are required under a Federal law other than the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); the head of the lead agency has determined that an environmental impact statement is required; and the project sponsor has identified the reasonable availability of funds sufficient to complete the project. ; in subsection (b)(1), by inserting , including major infrastructure projects, after all projects ; in subsection (c)— in paragraph (6)— in subparagraph (B), by striking and at the end; in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and by adding at the end the following: to calculate annually the average time taken by the lead agency to complete all environmental documents for each project during the previous fiscal year ; and by adding at the end the following: The Secretary shall review— existing practices, procedures, rules, regulations, and applicable laws to identify impediments to meeting the requirements applicable to major infrastructure projects under this section; and best practices, programmatic agreements, and potential changes to internal departmental procedures that would facilitate an efficient environmental review process for major infrastructure projects. In conducting the review under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consult, as appropriate, with the heads of other Federal agencies that participate in the environmental review process. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the America's Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019 , the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report that includes— the results of the review under subparagraph (A); and an analysis of whether additional funding would help the Secretary meet the requirements applicable to major infrastructure projects under this section. ; in subsection (d)— in paragraph (8)— in the paragraph heading, by striking and inserting nepa ; environmental in subparagraph (A)— by inserting and except as provided in subparagraph
(D)after paragraph
(7); by striking permits and inserting authorizations ; and by striking single environment document and inserting single environmental document for each kind of environmental document ; in subparagraph (B)(i)— by striking an environmental document and inserting environmental documents ; and by striking permits issued and inserting authorizations ; and by adding at the end the following: The lead agency may waive the application of subparagraph
(A)with respect to a project if— the project sponsor requests that agencies issue separate environmental documents; the obligations of a cooperating agency or participating agency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) have already been satisfied with respect to the project; or the lead agency determines that reliance on a single environmental document (as described in subparagraph (A)) would not facilitate timely completion of the environmental review process for the project. ; and by adding at the end the following: Except as provided in subparagraph (C), all authorization decisions necessary for the construction of a major infrastructure project shall be completed by not later than 90 days after the date of the issuance of a record of decision for the major infrastructure project. The final environmental impact statement for a major infrastructure project shall include an adequate level of detail to inform decisions necessary for the role of the participating agencies in the environmental review process. The head of the lead agency may extend the deadline under subparagraph
(A)if— Federal law prohibits the lead agency or another agency from issuing an approval or permit within the period described in that subparagraph; the project sponsor requests that the permit or approval follow a different timeline; or an extension would facilitate completion of the environmental review and authorization process of the major infrastructure project. ; in subsection (g)(1)— in subparagraph (B)— in clause (ii)(IV), by striking schedule for and cost of and inserting time required by an agency to conduct an environmental review and make decisions under applicable Federal law relating to a project (including the issuance or denial of a permit or license) and the cost of ; and by adding at the end the following: To the maximum extent practicable and consistent with applicable Federal law, in the case of a major infrastructure project, the lead agency shall develop a schedule for the major infrastructure project that is consistent with an agency average of not more than 2 years for the completion of the environmental review process for major infrastructure projects, as measured from the date of publication of a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement to the record of decision. ; by striking subparagraph
(D)and inserting the following: Except as provided in clause (ii), the lead agency may lengthen or shorten a schedule established under subparagraph
(B)for good cause. In the case of a major infrastructure project, the lead agency may lengthen a schedule under clause
(i)for a cooperating Federal agency by not more than 1 year after the latest deadline established for the major infrastructure project by the lead agency. The lead agency may not shorten a schedule under clause
(i)if doing so would impair the ability of a cooperating Federal agency to conduct necessary analyses or otherwise carry out relevant obligations of the Federal agency for the project. ; by redesignating subparagraph
(E)as subparagraph (F); and by inserting after subparagraph
(D)the following: If a cooperating Federal agency fails to meet a deadline established under subparagraph (D)(ii)(I)— the cooperating Federal agency shall submit to the Secretary a report that describes the reasons why the deadline was not met; and the Secretary shall— transmit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a copy of the report under clause (i); and make the report under clause
(i)publicly available on the internet. ; and by adding at the end the following: The Secretary shall establish a performance accountability system to track each major infrastructure project. The performance accountability system under paragraph
(1)shall, for each major infrastructure project, track, at a minimum— the environmental review process for the major infrastructure project, including the project schedule; whether the lead agency, cooperating agencies, and participating agencies are meeting the schedule established for the environmental review process; and the time taken to complete the environmental review process. Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall— in consultation with the entities described in paragraph (2), identify the categorical exclusions described in section 771.117 of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), that would accelerate delivery of a project if those categorical exclusions were available to those entities; collect existing documentation and substantiating information on the categorical exclusions described in subparagraph (A); and provide to each entity described in paragraph
(2)a list of the categorical exclusions identified under subparagraph
(A)and the documentation and substantiating information under subparagraph (B). The entities referred to in paragraph
(1)are— the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of the Army; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Energy; the Secretary of Defense; and the head of any other Federal agency that has participated in an environmental review process, as determined by the Secretary. If an entity described in paragraph
(2)determines that a categorical exclusion identified under paragraph (1)(A) meets the criteria for a categorical exclusion under section 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), not later than 2 years after the date on which the Secretary provides the list under paragraph (1)(C), the entity shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to propose a new categorical exclusion. . The analysis for chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 139 and inserting the following: 139. Efficient environmental reviews for project decisionmaking and One Federal Decision. .
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Sec. 1301
Efficient environmental reviews for project decisionmaking and One Federal Decision
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