Sec. 3. Judicial review
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/bill/119/hr/4776/ih/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Notwithstanding chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, in reviewing a claim of whether a final agency action complies with the procedural requirements of this Act, a court may only hold that the final agency action does not comply with the procedural requirements of this Act if the court determines— the agency abused its substantial discretion in complying with the procedural requirements of this Act; and the agency would have reached a different result with respect to the final agency action absent such abuse of substantial discretion.
A court reviewing a claim described in subsection
(a)may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency regarding the environmental effects of a proposed agency action. If a court holds that a final agency action does not comply with the procedural requirements of this Act, the court may only remand the final agency action to the agency with— specific instruction to correct the errors or deficiencies in compliance; and a reasonable schedule and deadline, which such deadline may not exceed— with regard to an order entered on or after the date of enactment of this section, the date that is 180 days after the date on which the order was entered; and with regard to an order entered before the date of enactment of this section, the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this section. A final agency action remanded under paragraph
(1)shall remain in effect while the Federal agency corrects any errors or deficiencies specified by the court. Notwithstanding chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, a claim described in subsection
(a)shall be barred unless— such claim is filed not later than 150 days after the final agency action is made public, unless a shorter timeline is specified under Federal law; in the case of a final agency action for which there was a public comment period on an environmental document, such claim— is filed by a party that submitted a substantive and unique comment during such public comment period by the noticed comment deadline for the environmental document and such comment was sufficiently detailed to put the applicable Federal agency on notice of the issue upon which the party seeks review and shows that the party would suffer direct harm if its comments were not addressed; and concerns the same subject matter raised in the comment submitted during the public comment period; and such claim does not challenge the establishment of a categorical exclusion. If an agency issues a supplemental environmental document in response to a court order remanding a final agency action, the deadline described in paragraph (1)(A) shall be the date on which the agency makes public the agency action for which the supplemental environmental document is prepared. A claim for review of such final agency action shall be limited to information contained in the final supplemental environmental document that was not contained in a previous environmental document for the final agency action. A court shall issue a final judgment on a claim described in subsection (a)— as expeditiously as practicable; and unless a shorter timeline is specified under Federal law, not later than the date that is 180 days after the date on which the agency record for the review is filed with the reviewing court, which shall not be more than 30 days from the filing of the claim. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent a court form further expediting review of a claim described in subsection (a). A notice of appeal of a final judgment described in this subsection shall be filed not later than 60 days after such final judgment is issued. A court shall issue a final decision on an appeal filed under subparagraph (A)— as expeditiously as practicable; and not later than the date that is 180 days after the date on which the appeal is filed. The completion of an environmental assessment, an environmental impact statement, or a finding of no significant impact, or a determination to categorically exclude an action, shall not be considered a final agency action under chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. In this section, the term agency action has the meaning given such term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. This section shall not affect the right to obtain review under section 107(g)(3). .
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