II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4815 

To clarify regulatory certainty, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. THUNE, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. HAGERTY, 

Mr. RISCH, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. 

BLUNT, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. SASSE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. 

ROUNDS, Ms. ERNST, Mr. WICKER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. 

MURKOWSKI, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. COTTON, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

BURR, Mr. DAINES, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To clarify regulatory certainty, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Simplify Timelines and 

5 Assure Regulatory Transparency Act’’ or the ‘‘START 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CODIFICATION OF NEPA REGULATIONS. 

2 The revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations 

3 made pursuant to the final rule of the Council on Environ4 mental Quality titled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Imple5 menting the Procedural Provisions of the National Envi6 ronmental Policy Act’’ and published on July 16, 2020 

7 (85 Fed. Reg. 43304), shall have the same force and effect 

8 of law as if enacted by an Act of Congress. 

9 SEC. 3. PROVIDING REGULATORY CERTAINTY UNDER THE 

10 FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT. 

11 (a) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.—The defini12 tions of the term ‘‘waters of the United States’’ and the 

13 other terms defined in section 328.3 of title 33, Code of 

14 Federal Regulations (as in effect on January 1, 2021), 

15 are enacted into law. 

16 (b) CODIFICATION OF SECTION 401 CERTIFICATION

17 RULE.—The final rule of the Environmental Protection 

18 Agency entitled ‘‘Clean Water Act Section 401 Certifi19 cation Rule’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 42210 (July 13, 2020)) is en20 acted into law. 

21 (c) CODIFICATION OF NATIONWIDE PERMITS.—The 

22 Nationwide Permits issued, reissued, or modified, as appli23 cable, in the following final rules of the Corps of Engineers 

24 are enacted into law: 


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1 (1) The final rule of the Corps of Engineers en2 titled ‘‘Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide 

3 Permits’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 2744 (January 13, 2021)). 

4 (2) The final rule of the Corps of Engineers en5 titled ‘‘Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide 

6 Permits’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 73522 (December 27, 

7 2021)). 

8 (d) NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMI9 NATION SYSTEM.—Section 402(b)(1)(B) of the Federal 

10 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(b)(1)(B)) 

11 is amended by striking ‘‘five years’’ and inserting ‘‘10 

12 years’’. 

13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF GREEN14 HOUSE GAS ESTIMATES RAISING GASOLINE 

15 PRICES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating regulations, 

17 issuing guidance, or taking any agency action (as defined 

18 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code) relating to 

19 the social cost of greenhouse gases, no Federal agency 

20 shall adopt or otherwise use any estimates for the social 

21 cost of greenhouse gases that may raise gasoline prices, 

22 as determined through a review by the Energy Informa23 tion Administration. 

24 (b) INCLUSION.—The estimates referred to in sub25 section (a) include the interim estimates in the document 


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1 of the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of 

2 Greenhouse Gases entitled ‘‘Technical Support Document: 

3 Social Cost of Carbon, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide In4 terim Estimates under Executive Order 13990’’ and dated 

5 February 2021. 

6 SEC. 5. EXPEDITING PERMITTING AND REVIEW PROC7 ESSES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—The term ‘‘authoriza10 tion’’ means any license, permit, approval, finding, 

11 determination, or other administrative decision 

12 issued by a Federal department or agency that is re13 quired or authorized under Federal law in order to 

14 site, construct, reconstruct, or commence operations 

15 of an energy project, including any authorization de16 scribed in section 41001(3) of the FAST Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 4370m(3)). 

18 (2) ENERGY PROJECT.—The term ‘‘energy 

19 project’’ means any project involving the exploration, 

20 development, production, transportation, combus21 tion, transmission, or distribution of an energy re22 source or electricity for which— 

23 (A) an authorization is required under a 

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1 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

2 seq.); and 

3 (B)(i) the head of the lead agency has de4 termined that an environmental impact state5 ment is required; or 

6 (ii) the head of the lead agency has deter7 mined that an environmental assessment is re8 quired, and the project sponsor requests that 

9 the project be treated as an energy project. 

10 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

11 The term ‘‘environmental impact statement’’ means 

12 the detailed statement of environmental impacts re13 quired to be prepared under the National Environ14 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

15 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND AUTHORIZA16 TION PROCESS.—The term ‘‘environmental review 

17 and authorization process’’ means— 

18 (A) the process for preparing for an energy 

19 project an environmental impact statement, en20 vironmental assessment, categorical exclusion, 

21 or other document prepared under the National 

22 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

23 4321 et seq.); and 

24 (B) the completion of any authorization 

25 decision required for an energy project under 


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1 any Federal law other than the National Envi2 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

3 et seq.). 

4 (5) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) the Department of Energy; 

7 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

8 (C) the Department of Agriculture; 

9 (D) the Federal Energy Regulatory Com10 mission; 

11 (E) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; 

12 or 

13 (F) any other appropriate Federal agency, 

14 as applicable, that may be responsible for navi15 gating the energy project through the environ16 mental review and authorization process. 

17 (6) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘project 

18 sponsor’’ means an agency or other entity, including 

19 any private or public-private entity, that seeks ap20 proval from a lead agency for an energy project. 

21 (b) TIMELY AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ENERGY

22 PROJECTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (A) DEADLINE.—Except as provided in 

25 subparagraph (C), all authorization decisions 


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1 necessary for the construction of an energy 

2 project shall be completed by not later than 90 

3 days after the date of the issuance of a record 

4 of decision for the energy project by the lead 

5 agency. 

6 (B) DETAIL.—The final environmental im7 pact statement for an energy project shall in8 clude an adequate level of detail to inform deci9 sions necessary for the role of any Federal 

10 agency involved in the environmental review and 

11 authorization process for the energy project. 

12 (C) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The head 

13 of a lead agency may extend the deadline under 

14 subparagraph (A) if— 

15 (i) Federal law prohibits the lead 

16 agency or another agency from issuing an 

17 approval or permit within the period de18 scribed in that subparagraph; 

19 (ii) the project sponsor requests that 

20 the permit or approval follow a different 

21 timeline; or 

22 (iii) an extension would facilitate com23 pletion of the environmental review and 

24 authorization process of the energy project. 


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1 (2) ENERGY PROJECT SCHEDULE.—To the 

2 maximum extent practicable and consistent with ap3 plicable Federal law, for an energy project, the lead 

4 agency shall develop, in concurrence with the project 

5 sponsor, a schedule for the energy project that is 

6 consistent with a time period of not more than 2 

7 years for the completion of the environmental review 

8 and authorization process for an energy project, as 

9 measured from, as applicable— 

10 (A) the date of publication of a notice of 

11 intent to prepare an environmental impact 

12 statement to the record of decision; or 

13 (B) the date on which the head of the lead 

14 agency determines that an environmental as15 sessment is required to a finding of no signifi16 cant impact. 

17 (3) LENGTH OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

18 STATEMENT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

20 other provision of law and except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), to the maximum extent 

22 practicable, the text of the items described in 

23 paragraphs (4) through (6) of section 

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1 mental impact statement for an energy project 

2 shall be 200 pages or fewer. 

3 (B) EXEMPTION.—The text referred to in 

4 subparagraph (A) of an environmental impact 

5 statement for an energy project may exceed 200 

6 pages if the lead agency establishes a new page 

7 limit for the environmental impact statement 

8 for that energy project. 

9 (c) DEADLINE FOR FILING ENERGY-RELATED

10 CAUSES OF ACTION.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 (A) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘agency 

13 action’’ has the meaning given the term in sec14 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (B) ENERGY-RELATED CAUSE OF AC16 TION.—The term ‘‘energy-related cause of ac17 tion’’ means a cause of action that— 

18 (i) is filed on or after the date of en19 actment of this Act; and 

20 (ii) seeks judicial review of a final 

21 agency action to issue a permit, license, or 

22 other form of agency permission for an en23 ergy project. 

24 (2) DEADLINE FOR FILING.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

2 other provision of Federal law, an energy-re3 lated cause of action shall be filed by— 

4 (i) not later than 60 days after the 

5 date of publication of the applicable final 

6 agency action; or 

7 (ii) if another Federal law provides for 

8 an earlier deadline than the deadline de9 scribed in clause (i), the earlier deadline. 

10 (B) PROHIBITION.—An energy-related 

11 cause of action that is not filed within the ap12 plicable time period described in subparagraph 

13 (A) shall be barred. 

14 (d) APPLICATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS FOR

15 ENERGY PROJECTS.—In carrying out requirements under 

16 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4321 et seq.) for an energy project, a Federal agency may 

18 use categorical exclusions designated under that Act in the 

19 implementing regulations of any other agency, subject to 

20 the conditions that— 

21 (1) the agency makes a determination, in con22 sultation with the lead agency, that the categorical 

23 exclusion applies to the energy project; 

24 (2) the energy project satisfies the conditions 

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1 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

2 seq.); and 

3 (3) the use of the categorical exclusion does not 

4 otherwise conflict with the implementing regulations 

5 of the agency, except any list of the agency that des6 ignates categorical exclusions. 

7 SEC. 6. FRACTURING AUTHORITY WITHIN STATES. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL LAND.—In this sec9 tion, the term ‘‘Federal land’’ means— 

10 (1) public lands (as defined in section 103 of 

11 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

12 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

13 (2) National Forest System land; 

14 (3) land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 

15 Reclamation; and 

16 (4) land under the jurisdiction of the Corps of 

17 Engineers. 

18 (b) STATE AUTHORITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall have the sole 

20 authority to promulgate or enforce any regulation, 

21 guidance, or permit requirement regarding the treat22 ment of a well by the application of fluids under 

23 pressure to which propping agents may be added for 

24 the expressly designed purpose of initiating or prop25 agating fractures in a target geologic formation in 


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1 order to enhance production of oil, natural gas, or 

2 geothermal production activities on or under any 

3 land within the boundaries of the State. 

4 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The treatment of a well 

5 by the application of fluids under pressure to which 

6 propping agents may be added for the expressly de7 signed purpose of initiating or propagating fractures 

8 in a target geologic formation in order to enhance 

9 production of oil, natural gas, or geothermal produc10 tion activities on Federal land shall be subject to the 

11 law of the State in which the land is located. 

12 SEC. 7. FEDERAL LAND FREEDOM. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.—The term 

15 ‘‘available Federal land’’ means any Federal land 

16 that, as of May 31, 2013— 

17 (A) is located within the boundaries of a 

18 State; 

19 (B) is not held by the United States in 

20 trust for the benefit of a federally recognized 

21 Indian Tribe; 

22 (C) is not a unit of the National Park Sys23 tem; 

24 (D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife 

25 Refuge System; and 


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1 (E) is not a congressionally designated wil2 derness area. 

3 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

4 (A) a State; and 

5 (B) the District of Columbia. 

6 (3) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU7 LATORY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘State leasing, per8 mitting, and regulatory program’’ means a program 

9 established pursuant to State law that regulates the 

10 exploration and development of oil, natural gas, and 

11 other forms of energy on land located in the State. 

12 (b) STATE CONTROL OF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

13 AND PRODUCTION ON ALL AVAILABLE FEDERAL

14 LAND.— 

15 (1) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU16 LATORY PROGRAMS.—Any State that has established 

17 a State leasing, permitting, and regulatory program 

18 may— 

19 (A) submit to the Secretaries of the Inte20 rior, Agriculture, and Energy a declaration that 

21 a State leasing, permitting, and regulatory pro22 gram has been established or amended; and 

23 (B) seek to transfer responsibility for leas24 ing, permitting, and regulating oil, natural gas, 


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1 and other forms of energy development from 

2 the Federal Government to the State. 

3 (2) STATE ACTION AUTHORIZED.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, on submission 

5 of a declaration under paragraph (1)(A), the State 

6 submitting the declaration may lease, permit, and 

7 regulate the exploration and development of oil, nat8 ural gas, and other forms of energy on Federal land 

9 located in the State in lieu of the Federal Govern10 ment. 

11 (3) EFFECT OF STATE ACTION.—Any action by 

12 a State to lease, permit, or regulate the exploration 

13 and development of oil, natural gas, and other forms 

14 of energy pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be 

15 subject to, or considered a Federal action, Federal 

16 permit, or Federal license under— 

17 (A) subchapter II of chapter 5, and chap18 ter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

19 known as the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’); 

20 (B) division A of subtitle III of title 54, 

21 United States Code; 

22 (C) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

23 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 

24 (D) the National Environmental Policy Act 

25 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 


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1 (c) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL REVENUES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any lease or permit issued 

3 by a State pursuant to subsection (b) shall include 

4 provisions for the collection of royalties or other rev5 enues in an amount equal to the amount of royalties 

6 or revenues that would have been collected if the 

7 lease or permit had been issued by the Federal Gov8 ernment. 

9 (2) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Any revenues 

10 collected by a State from leasing or permitting on 

11 Federal land pursuant to subsection (b) shall be de12 posited in the same Federal account in which the 

13 revenues would have been deposited if the lease or 

14 permit had been issued by the Federal Government. 

15 (3) EFFECT ON STATE PROCESSING FEES.— 

16 Nothing in this section prohibits a State from col17 lecting and retaining a fee from an applicant to 

18 cover the administrative costs of processing an appli19 cation for a lease or permit. 

20 SEC. 8. EXPEDITING COMPLETION OF THE MOUNTAIN VAL21 LEY PIPELINE. 

22 (a) DEFINITION OF MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE.— 

23 In this section, the term ‘‘Mountain Valley Pipeline’’ 

24 means the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, as generally 


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1 described and approved in Federal Energy Regulatory 

2 Commission Docket Nos. CP16–10 and CP19–477. 

3 (b) EXPEDITED APPROVAL.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, not later than 21 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act and for the purpose of facili6 tating the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline— 

7 (1) the Secretary of the Army shall issue all 

8 permits or verifications necessary— 

9 (A) to complete the construction of the 

10 Mountain Valley Pipeline across the waters of 

11 the United States; and 

12 (B) to allow for the operation and mainte13 nance of the Mountain Valley Pipeline; 

14 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture shall amend 

15 the Land and Resource Management Plan for the 

16 Jefferson National Forest in a manner that is sub17 stantively identical to the record of decision with re18 spect to the Mountain Valley Pipeline issued on Jan19 uary 11, 2021; and 

20 (3) the Secretary of the Interior shall— 

21 (A) reissue the biological opinion and inci22 dental take statement for the Mountain Valley 

23 Pipeline in a manner that is substantively iden24 tical to the biological opinion and incidental 


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1 take statement previously issued on September 

2 4, 2020; and 

3 (B) grant all necessary rights-of-way and 

4 temporary use permits in a manner that is sub5 stantively identical to those permits approved in 

6 the record of decision with respect to the Moun7 tain Valley Pipeline issued on January 14, 

8 2021. 

9 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No action taken by the Sec10 retary of the Army, the Federal Energy Regulatory Com11 mission, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary of 

12 the Interior that grants an authorization, permit, 

13 verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, 

14 or any other approval related to the Mountain Valley Pipe15 line, including the issuance of any authorization, permit, 

16 verification, authorization, biological opinion, incidental 

17 take statement, or other approval described in subsection 

18 (b), shall be subject to judicial review. 

19 (d) EFFECT.—This section preempts any statute (in20 cluding any other section of this Act), regulation, judicial 

21 decision, or agency guidance that is inconsistent with the 

22 issuance of any authorization, permit, verification, author23 ization, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or 

24 other approval described in subsection (b). 


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1 SEC. 9. FASTER PROJECT CONSULTATION. 

2 Section 7(b)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of 

3 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘90-day’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘60-day’’; and 

6 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

7 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘60 days’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘90th day’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘60th day’’; 

12 (B) in clause (i), in the matter preceding 

13 subclause (I), by striking ‘‘150th day’’ and in14 serting ‘‘100th day’’; and 

15 (C) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘150 or 

16 more’’ and inserting ‘‘100 or more’’. 

17 SEC. 10. NEW SOURCE REVIEW PERMITTING. 

18 (a) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF A MODIFICA19 TION FOR EMISSION RATE INCREASES, POLLUTION CON20 TROL, EFFICIENCY, SAFETY, AND RELIABILITY

21 PROJECTS.—Paragraph (4) of section 111(a) of the Clean 

22 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)) is amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The term’’; 

24 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

25 following: ‘‘. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

26 a change increases the amount of any air pollutant 


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1 emitted by such source only if the maximum hourly 

2 emission rate of an air pollutant that is achievable 

3 by such source after the change is higher than the 

4 maximum hourly emission rate of such air pollutant 

5 that was achievable by such source during any hour 

6 in the 10-year period immediately preceding the 

7 change’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the 

10 term ‘modification’ does not include a change at a 

11 stationary source that is designed— 

12 ‘‘(i) to reduce the amount of any air pol13 lutant emitted by the source per unit of produc14 tion; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) to restore, maintain, or improve the 

16 reliability of operations at, or the safety of, the 

17 source, 

18 except, with respect to either clause (i) or (ii), when 

19 the change would be a modification as defined in 

20 subparagraph (A) and the Administrator determines 

21 that the increase in the maximum achievable hourly 

22 emission rate of a pollutant from such change would 

23 cause an adverse effect on human health or the envi24 ronment.’’. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF CONSTRUC2 TION FOR PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORA3 TION.—Subparagraph (C) of section 169(2) of the Clean 

4 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7479(2)) is amended to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(C) The term ‘construction’, when used in 

7 connection with a major emitting facility, in8 cludes a modification (as defined in section 

9 111(a)) at such facility, except that for pur10 poses of this subparagraph a modification does 

11 not include a change at a major emitting facil12 ity that does not result in a significant emis13 sions increase, or a significant net emissions in14 crease, in annual actual emissions at such facil15 ity.’’. 

16 (c) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF MODIFICA17 TIONS AND MODIFIED FOR NONATTAINMENT AREAS.— 

18 Paragraph (4) of section 171 of the Clean Air Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 7501) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘modifications’ and ‘modified’ 

21 mean a modification as defined in section 111(a)(4), 

22 except that such terms do not include a change at 

23 a major emitting facility that does not result in a 

24 significant emissions increase, or a significant net 


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1 emissions increase, in annual actual emissions at 

2 such facility.’’. 

3 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion or the amendments made by this section shall be con5 strued to treat any change as a modification for purposes 

6 of any provision of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 

7 et seq.) if such change would not have been so treated 

8 as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 11. PROHIBITION ON RETROACTIVE PERMIT VETOES. 

10 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

11 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by striking subsection 

12 (c) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF EPA ADMINISTRATOR.— 

14 ‘‘(1) POSSIBLE PROHIBITION OF SPECIFICA15 TION.—Until such time as the Secretary has issued 

16 a permit under this section, the Administrator may 

17 prohibit the specification (including the withdrawal 

18 of specification) of any defined area as a disposal 

19 site, and the Administrator may deny or restrict the 

20 use of any defined area for specification (including 

21 the withdrawal of specification) as a disposal site, 

22 whenever the Administrator determines, after notice 

23 and opportunity for public hearings, that the dis24 charge of such materials into such area will have an 

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1 plies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including 

2 spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or rec3 reational areas. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—Before mak5 ing a determination under paragraph (1), the Ad6 ministrator shall consult with the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN FINDINGS REQUIRED.—The Ad8 ministrator shall set forth in writing and make pub9 lic the findings and reasons of the Administrator for 

10 making any determination under this subsection.’’. 

11 SEC. 12. POLICY REVIEW UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT. 

12 Section 309 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7609) 

13 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 309. POLICY REVIEW. 

15 ‘‘(a) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PROPOSED LEGIS16 LATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re18 view, and comment in writing, on the environmental 

19 impact of any matter relating to the duties and re20 sponsibilities granted to the authority of the Admin21 istrator pursuant to this Act or any other law con22 tained in any legislation proposed by a Federal de23 partment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLISH.—A written comment referred to 

2 in paragraph (1) shall be made public at the conclu3 sion of any review conducted under that paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(b) UNSATISFACTORY LEGISLATION.—In the event 

5 the Administrator determines that any legislation reviewed 

6 under subsection (a)(1) is unsatisfactory from the stand7 point of public health, welfare, or environmental quality, 

8 the Administrator shall publish the determination of the 

9 Administrator and the matter shall be referred to the 

10 Council on Environmental Quality.’’. 

Æ 


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