Northern Route Approval Act

Summary:  Northern Route Approval Act - (Sec. 1) Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for the pipeline described in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, including the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor. (Sec. 3) Deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, coupled with such Final Evaluation Report, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and of the National Historic Preservation Act. (Sec. 4) Grants original and exclusive jurisdiction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to determine specified issues (except for review by the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari).  (Sec. 5) Deems the Secretary of the Interior to have issued a written statement setting forth the Secretary's opinion that the Keystone XL pipeline project will not jeopardize the continued existence of the American burying beetle or destroy or adversely modify American burying beetle critical habitat. States that any taking of the American burying beetle that is incidental to the construction or operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline shall not be considered a prohibited taking of such species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. (Sec. 6) Deems the Secretary to have issued a grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. (Sec. 7) Requires the Secretary of the Army, within 90 days after receipt of an application, to issue certain permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 which are necessary for pipeline construction, operation, and maintenance described in the May 4, 2012, application, as supplemented by the Nebraska reroute. Deems such a permit issued on the 91st day if the Secretary has not issued them within 90 days after receipt of a permit application. Authorizes such Secretary to waive any procedural requirement of law or regulation that the Secretary considers desirable to waive in order to accomplish the purposes of this Act.  Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from prohibiting or restricting an activity or use of an area authorized under this Act. (Sec. 8) Deems the Secretary to have issued a special purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as described in the application filed with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 11, 2013. (Sec. 9) Requires a pipeline owner or operator required under federal law to develop an oil spill response plan for the Keystone XL pipeline to make such plan available to the governor of each state in which the pipeline operates. Requires a plan update to be submitted to the governor within seven days after it is made.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Route Approval Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) To maintain our Nation's competitive edge and ensure an 
        economy built to last, the United States must have fast, 
        reliable, resilient, and environmentally sound means of moving 
        energy. In a global economy, we will compete for the world's 
        investments based in significant part on the quality of our 
        infrastructure. Investing in the Nation's infrastructure 
        provides immediate and long-term economic benefits for local 
        communities and the Nation as a whole.
            (2) The delivery of oil from Canada, a close ally not only 
        in proximity but in shared values and ideals, to domestic 
        markets is in the national interest because of the need to 
        lessen dependence upon insecure foreign sources.
            (3) The Keystone XL pipeline would provide both short-term 
        and long-term employment opportunities and related labor income 
        benefits, such as government revenues associated with taxes.
            (4) The State of Nebraska has thoroughly reviewed and 
        approved the proposed Keystone XL pipeline reroute, concluding 
        that the concerns of Nebraskans have had a major influence on 
        the pipeline reroute and that the reroute will have minimal 
        environmental impacts.
            (5) The Department of State and other Federal agencies have 
        over a long period of time conducted extensive studies and 
        analysis of the technical aspects and of the environmental, 
        social, and economic impacts of the proposed Keystone XL 
        pipeline, and--
                    (A) the Department of State assessments found that 
                the Keystone XL pipeline ``is not likely to impact the 
                amount of crude oil produced from the oil sands'' and 
                that ``approval or denial of the proposed project is 
                unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of 
                development in the oil sands'';
                    (B) the Department of State found that incremental 
                life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the 
                Keystone XL project are estimated in the range of 0.07 
                to 0.83 million metric tons of carbon dioxide 
                equivalents, with the upper end of this range 
                representing twelve one-thousandths of one percent of 
                the 6,702 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted 
                in the United States in 2011; and
                    (C) after extensive evaluation of potential impacts 
                to land and water resources along the Keystone XL 
                pipeline's 875 mile proposed route, the Department of 
                State found that ``The analyses of potential impacts 
                associated with construction and normal operation of 
                the proposed Project suggest that there would be no 
                significant impacts to most resources along the 
                proposed Project route (assuming Keystone complies with 
                all laws and required conditions and measures).''.
            (6) The transportation of oil via pipeline is the safest 
        and most economically and environmentally effective means of 
        doing so, and--
                    (A) transportation of oil via pipeline has a record 
                of unmatched safety and environmental protection, and 
                the Department of State found that ``Spills associated 
                with the proposed Project that enter the environment 
                expected to be rare and relatively small'', and that 
                ``there is no evidence of increased corrosion or other 
                pipeline threat due to viscosity'' of diluted bitumen 
                oil that will be transported by the Keystone XL 
                pipeline; and
                    (B) plans to incorporate 57 project-specific 
                special conditions related to the design, construction, 
                and operations of the Keystone XL pipeline led the 
                Department of State to find that the pipeline will have 
                ``a degree of safety over any other typically 
                constructed domestic oil pipeline''.
            (7) The Keystone XL is in much the same position today as 
        the Alaska Pipeline in 1973 prior to congressional action. Once 
        again, the Federal regulatory process remains an insurmountable 
        obstacle to a project that is likely to reduce oil imports from 
        insecure foreign sources.

SEC. 3. KEYSTONE XL PERMIT APPROVAL.

    Notwithstanding Executive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), 
Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 301 of title 3, 
United States Code, and any other Executive order or provision of law, 
no Presidential permit shall be required for the pipeline described in 
the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, 
L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, as 
supplemented to include the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final 
Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental 
Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor. The 
final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State 
on August 26, 2011, coupled with the Final Evaluation Report described 
in the previous sentence, shall be considered to satisfy all 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 
U.S.C. 470 et seq.).

SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Exclusive Jurisdiction.--Except for review by the Supreme Court 
on writ of certiorari, the United States Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit shall have original and exclusive 
jurisdiction to determine--
            (1) the validity of any final order or action (including a 
        failure to act) of any Federal agency or officer with respect 
        to issuance of a permit relating to the construction or 
        maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline, including any final 
        order or action deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued;
            (2) the constitutionality of any provision of this Act, or 
        any decision or action taken, made, granted, or issued, or 
        deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued under this Act; or
            (3) the adequacy of any environmental impact statement 
        prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
        (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or of any analysis under any other 
        Act, with respect to any action taken, made, granted, or 
        issued, or deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued under 
        this Act.
    (b) Deadline for Filing Claim.--A claim arising under this Act may 
be brought not later than 60 days after the date of the decision or 
action giving rise to the claim.
    (c) Expedited Consideration.--The United States Court of Appeals 
for the District of Columbia Circuit shall set any action brought under 
subsection (a) for expedited consideration, taking into account the 
national interest of enhancing national energy security by providing 
access to the significant oil reserves in Canada that are needed to 
meet the demand for oil.

SEC. 5. AMERICAN BURYING BEETLE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) environmental reviews performed for the Keystone XL 
        pipeline project satisfy the requirements of section 7 of the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) in its 
        entirety; and
            (2) for purposes of that Act, the Keystone XL pipeline 
        project will not jeopardize the continued existence of the 
        American burying beetle or destroy or adversely modify American 
        burying beetle critical habitat.
    (b) Biological Opinion.--The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to 
have issued a written statement setting forth the Secretary's opinion 
containing such findings under section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)(A)) and any taking of the 
American burying beetle that is incidental to the construction or 
operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline as it may be 
ultimately defined in its entirety, shall not be considered a 
prohibited taking of such species under such Act.

SEC. 6. RIGHT-OF-WAY AND TEMPORARY USE PERMIT.

    The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have granted or issued a 
grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit under section 28 of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as set forth in the 
application tendered to the Bureau of Land Management for the Keystone 
XL pipeline.

SEC. 7. PERMITS FOR ACTIVITIES IN NAVIGABLE WATERS.

    (a) Issuance of Permits.--The Secretary of the Army, not later than 
90 days after receipt of an application therefor, shall issue all 
permits under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1344) and section 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 
403; commonly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 
1899), necessary for the construction, operation, and maintenance of 
the pipeline described in the May 4, 2012, application referred to in 
section 3, as supplemented by the Nebraska reroute. The application 
shall be based on the administrative record for the pipeline as of the 
date of enactment of this Act, which shall be considered complete.
    (b) Waiver of Procedural Requirements.--The Secretary may waive any 
procedural requirement of law or regulation that the Secretary 
considers desirable to waive in order to accomplish the purposes of 
this section.
    (c) Issuance in Absence of Action by the Secretary.--If the 
Secretary has not issued a permit described in subsection (a) on or 
before the last day of the 90-day period referred to in subsection (a), 
the permit shall be deemed issued under section 404 of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) or section 10 of the Act 
of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), as appropriate, on the day following 
such last day.
    (d) Limitation.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency may not prohibit or restrict an activity or use of an area that 
is authorized under this section.

SEC. 8. MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT PERMIT.

    The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have issued a special 
purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et 
seq.), as described in the application filed with the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 11, 
2013.

SEC. 9. OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLAN DISCLOSURE.

    (a) In General.--Any pipeline owner or operator required under 
Federal law to develop an oil spill response plan for the Keystone XL 
pipeline shall make such plan available to the Governor of each State 
in which such pipeline operates to assist with emergency response 
preparedness.
    (b) Updates.--A pipeline owner or operator required to make 
available to a Governor a plan under subsection (a) shall make 
available to such Governor any update of such plan not later than 7 
days after the date on which such update is made.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 22, 2013.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.