II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 715 

To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the 

submission of certain reports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

to require the submission of certain reports, 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 ‘‘NEPA Data Trans5 parency and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRED REPORTS UNDER NEPA. 

7 Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

8 1969 is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating section 105 (42 U.S.C. 

10 4335) as section 106; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 104 (42 U.S.C. 

2 4334) the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 105. REQUIRED REPORTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 

6 term ‘environmental assessment’ has the meaning 

7 given the term in section 1508.9 of title 40, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation). 

9 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

10 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 

11 detailed statement required under section 102(2)(C). 

12 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal 

13 agency’ includes a State that has assumed responsi14 bility under section 327 of title 23, United States 

15 Code. 

16 ‘‘(4) HEAD OF A FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 

17 ‘head of a Federal agency’ includes the governor or 

18 head of an applicable State agency of a State that 

19 has assumed responsibility under section 327 of title 

20 23, United States Code. 

21 ‘‘(5) NEPA PROCESS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘NEPA 

23 process’ means the entirety of every process, 

24 analysis, or other measure, including an envi25 ronmental impact statement, required to be carVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S715.IS S715

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1 ried out by a Federal agency under this title be2 fore the agency undertakes a proposed action. 

3 ‘‘(B) PERIOD.—For purposes of subpara4 graph (A), the NEPA process— 

5 ‘‘(i) begins on the date on which the 

6 head of a Federal agency receives an appli7 cation for a proposed action from a project 

8 sponsor; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) ends on the date on which the 

10 Federal agency issues, with respect to the 

11 proposed action— 

12 ‘‘(I) a record of decision, includ13 ing, if necessary, a revised record of 

14 decision; 

15 ‘‘(II) a finding of no significant 

16 impact; or 

17 ‘‘(III) a categorical exclusion 

18 under this title. 

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

20 sponsor’ means a Federal agency or other entity, in21 cluding a private or public-private entity, that seeks 

22 approval of a proposed action. 

23 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) NEPA DATA.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 

2 Federal agency that carries out the NEPA 

3 process shall carry out a process to track, and 

4 annually submit to Congress a report con5 taining, the information described in subpara6 graph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The in8 formation referred to in subparagraph (A) is, 

9 with respect to the Federal agency issuing the 

10 report under that subparagraph— 

11 ‘‘(i) the number of proposed actions 

12 for which a categorical exclusion was 

13 issued during the reporting period; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the length of time the Federal 

15 agency took to issue the categorical exclu16 sions described in clause (i); 

17 ‘‘(iii) the number of proposed actions 

18 pending on the date on which the report is 

19 submitted for which the issuance of a cat20 egorical exclusion is pending; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the number of proposed actions 

22 for which an environmental assessment 

23 was issued during the reporting period; 


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1 ‘‘(v) the length of time the Federal 

2 agency took to complete each environ3 mental assessment described in clause (iv); 

4 ‘‘(vi) the number of proposed actions 

5 pending on the date on which the report is 

6 submitted for which an environmental as7 sessment is being drafted; 

8 ‘‘(vii) the number of proposed actions 

9 for which an environmental impact state10 ment was issued during the reporting pe11 riod; 

12 ‘‘(viii) the length of time the Federal 

13 agency took to complete each environ14 mental impact statement described in 

15 clause (vii); and 

16 ‘‘(ix) the number of proposed actions 

17 pending on the date on which the report is 

18 submitted for which an environmental im19 pact statement is being drafted. 

20 ‘‘(2) NEPA COSTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

22 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

23 the Chair of the Council on Environmental 

24 Quality and the Director of the Office of Man25 agement and Budget shall jointly develop a 


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1 methodology to assess the comprehensive costs 

2 of the NEPA process. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The head of each 

4 Federal agency that carries out the NEPA 

5 process shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) adopt the methodology developed 

7 under subparagraph (A); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) use the methodology developed 

9 under subparagraph (A) to annually sub10 mit to Congress a report describing— 

11 ‘‘(I) the comprehensive cost of 

12 the NEPA process for each proposed 

13 action that was carried out within the 

14 reporting period; and 

15 ‘‘(II) for a proposed action for 

16 which the head of the Federal agency 

17 is still completing the NEPA process 

18 at the time the report is submitted— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the amount of money 

20 expended to date to carry out the 

21 NEPA process for the proposed 

22 action; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) an estimate of the re24 maining costs before the NEPA 


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1 process for the proposed action is 

2 complete.’’. 

Æ 


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