Sec. 3. Judicial review
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Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq. ) is amended— by redesignating section 112 as section 110A and moving such section so as to appear after section 110; and by inserting before section 111 the following: In reviewing a claim of whether a final agency action complies with the requirements of this Act, a court— shall afford substantial deference to the agency; and may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency regarding the environmental effects included in the final agency action or included in the environmental document.
If a court holds, under section 706(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, that a final agency action does not comply with the requirements of this Act, the only remedy the court may order, notwithstanding chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, is to remand, without vacatur or injunction, the final agency action to the agency with— specific instruction to correct the errors or deficiencies found by the court; and a reasonable schedule and deadline to correct such errors or deficiencies, 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 found by the court. Notwithstanding any other provision of law (except as provided in subparagraph
(A)with respect to a shorter deadline), 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 deadline is specified under 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 concerns the same subject matter raised in the comment submitted during the public comment period; such claim is filed by a party that has suffered or imminently will suffer direct harm from the final agency action; 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. For any final agency action that authorizes or affects the use of lands, minerals, or other resources already held in trust at the time of the final agency action by the United States for the benefit of a federally recognized Indian Tribe— except as provided in subparagraph (B), there shall be no administrative or judicial review of such final agency action based on a claim of failure to comply with the requirements of this Act; and subparagraph
(A)shall not apply to actions for administrative or judicial review— brought by the federally recognized Indian Tribe for which the United States holds the lands, minerals, or other resources in trust; or that involve reasonably foreseeable effects of the final agency action that occur outside the lands, minerals, or other resources held in trust by the United States for the benefit of a federally recognized Indian Tribe. A court shall issue a final judgment on a claim described in subsection (a)— as expeditiously as practicable; and unless a shorter deadline 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 60 days after the filing of the claim. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent a court from 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. In the case of a final agency action remanded under subsection (b), the agency and, if applicable, the applicant, shall have the right to appeal during the pendency of the remand. 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. This section shall not affect the right to obtain review under section 107(g)(3). .
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