Sec. 5. Expediting permitting and review processes
956 words·~4 min read·
/bill/117/hr/8966/ih/section-5·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In this section: The term authorization means any license, permit, approval, finding, determination, or other administrative decision issued by a Federal department or agency that is required or authorized under Federal law in order to site, construct, reconstruct, or commence operations of an energy project, including any authorization described in section 41001(3) of the FAST Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4370m(3) ). The term energy project means any project involving the exploration, development, production, transportation, combustion, transmission, or distribution of an energy resource or electricity for which— an authorization is required under a Federal law other than the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ); and the head of the lead agency has determined that an environmental impact statement is required; or the head of the lead agency has determined that an environmental assessment is required, and the project sponsor requests that the project be treated as an energy project.
The term environmental impact statement means the detailed statement of environmental impacts required to be prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ). The term environmental review and authorization process means— the process for preparing for an energy project an environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, categorical exclusion, or other document prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ); and the completion of any authorization decision required for an energy project under any Federal law other than the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ).
The term lead agency means— the Department of Energy; the Department of the Interior; the Department of Agriculture; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; or any other appropriate Federal agency, as applicable, that may be responsible for navigating the energy project through the environmental review and authorization process. The term project sponsor means an agency or other entity, including any private or public-private entity, that seeks approval from a lead agency for an energy project.
Except as provided in subparagraph (C), all authorization decisions necessary for the construction of an energy project shall be completed by not later than 90 days after the date of the issuance of a record of decision for the energy project by the lead agency. The final environmental impact statement for an energy project shall include an adequate level of detail to inform decisions necessary for the role of any Federal agency involved in the environmental review and authorization process for the energy project.
The head of a 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 energy project. To the maximum extent practicable and consistent with applicable Federal law, for an energy project, the lead agency shall develop, in concurrence with the project sponsor, a schedule for the energy project that is consistent with a time period of not more than 2 years for the completion of the environmental review and authorization process for an energy project, as measured from, as applicable— the date of publication of a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement to the record of decision; or the date on which the head of the lead agency determines that an environmental assessment is required to a finding of no significant impact. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in subparagraph (B), to the maximum extent practicable, the text of the items described in paragraphs
(4)through
(6)of section 1502.10(a) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), of an environmental impact statement for an energy project shall be 200 pages or fewer. The text referred to in subparagraph
(A)of an environmental impact statement for an energy project may exceed 200 pages if the lead agency establishes a new page limit for the environmental impact statement for that energy project. In this subsection: The term agency action has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. The term energy-related cause of action means a cause of action that— is filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act; and seeks judicial review of a final agency action to issue a permit, license, or other form of agency permission for an energy project. Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, an energy-related cause of action shall be filed by— not later than 60 days after the date of publication of the applicable final agency action; or if another Federal law provides for an earlier deadline than the deadline described in clause (i), the earlier deadline. An energy-related cause of action that is not filed within the applicable time period described in subparagraph
(A)shall be barred. In carrying out requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) for an energy project, a Federal agency may use categorical exclusions designated under that Act in the implementing regulations of any other agency, subject to the conditions that— the agency makes a determination, in consultation with the lead agency, that the categorical exclusion applies to the energy project; the energy project satisfies the conditions for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ); and the use of the categorical exclusion does not otherwise conflict with the implementing regulations of the agency, except any list of the agency that designates categorical exclusions.
Connectionstraces to 2
Traces to 2 documents
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources