I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4377 

To provide for improved coordination of agency actions in the preparation 

and adoption of environmental documents for permitting determinations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Mr. ROSS of Florida (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. COBLE, and Mr. 

PETERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for improved coordination of agency actions in 

the preparation and adoption of environmental documents for permitting determinations, 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 ‘‘Responsibly And Pro5 fessionally Invigorating Development Act of 2012’’ or as 

6 the ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE OP2 ERATIONS FOR EFFICIENT DECISIONMAKING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of chapter 5 of title 5, 

4 United States Code, is amended by inserting after sub5 chapter II the following: 

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY 

7 COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING 

‘‘560. Coordination of agency administrative operations for efficient decisionmaking. 

8 ‘‘§ 560. Coordination of agency administrative oper9 ations for efficient decisionmaking 

10 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.— 

11 The purpose of this subchapter is to establish a framework 

12 and procedures to streamline, increase the efficiency of, 

13 and enhance coordination of agency administration of the 

14 regulatory review, environmental decisionmaking, and per15 mitting process for projects undertaken, reviewed, or fund16 ed by Federal agencies. This subchapter will ensure that 

17 agencies administer the regulatory process in a manner 

18 that is efficient so that citizens are not burdened with reg19 ulatory excuses and time delays. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub21 chapter, the term— 

22 ‘‘(1) ‘agency’ means any agency, department, or 

23 other unit of Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal 

24 government; 


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1 ‘‘(2) ‘category of projects’ means 2 or more 

2 projects related by project type, potential environ3 mental impacts, geographic location, or another 

4 similar project feature or characteristic; 

5 ‘‘(3) ‘environmental assessment’ means a con6 cise public document for which a Federal agency is 

7 responsible that serves to— 

8 ‘‘(A) briefly provide sufficient evidence and 

9 analysis for determining whether to prepare an 

10 environmental impact statement or a finding of 

11 no significant impact; 

12 ‘‘(B) aid an agency’s compliance with 

13 NEPA when no environmental impact state14 ment is necessary; and 

15 ‘‘(C) facilitate preparation of an environ16 mental impact statement when one is necessary; 

17 ‘‘(4) ‘environmental impact statement’ means 

18 the detailed statement of significant environmental 

19 impacts required to be prepared under NEPA; 

20 ‘‘(5) ‘environmental review’ means the Federal 

21 agency procedures for preparing an environmental 

22 impact statement, environmental assessment, cat23 egorical exclusion, or other document under NEPA; 

24 ‘‘(6) ‘environmental decisionmaking process’ 

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1 taking and completion of any environmental permit, 

2 decision, approval, review, or study under any Fed3 eral law other than NEPA for a project subject to 

4 an environmental review; 

5 ‘‘(7) ‘environmental document’ means an envi6 ronmental assessment or environmental impact 

7 statement; 

8 ‘‘(8) ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 

9 document by a Federal agency briefly presenting the 

10 reasons why a project, not otherwise subject to a 

11 categorical exclusion, will not have a significant ef12 fect on the human environment and for which an en13 vironmental impact statement therefore will not be 

14 prepared; 

15 ‘‘(9) ‘lead agency’ means the Federal agency 

16 preparing or responsible for preparing the environ17 mental document; 

18 ‘‘(10) ‘NEPA’ means the National Environ19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(11) ‘project’ means major Federal actions 

21 that are construction activities undertaken with Fed22 eral funds or that require approval by a permit or 

23 regulatory decision issued by a Federal agency; 

24 ‘‘(12) ‘project sponsor’ means the agency or 

25 other entity, including any private or public-private 


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1 entity, that seeks approval for a project or is other2 wise responsible for undertaking a project; and 

3 ‘‘(13) ‘record of decision’ means a document 

4 prepared by a lead agency under NEPA following an 

5 environmental impact statement that states the lead 

6 agency’s decision, identifies the alternatives consid7 ered by the agency in reaching its decision and 

8 states whether all practicable means to avoid or min9 imize environmental harm from the alternative se10 lected have been adopted, and if not, why they were 

11 not adopted. 

12 ‘‘(c) ROLE OF PROJECT SPONSOR.— 

13 ‘‘(1) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU14 MENTS.—Upon the request of any project sponsor to 

15 the lead agency, the project sponsor shall be author16 ized to prepare any document for purposes of an en17 vironmental review required in support of any 

18 project or approval by the lead agency if the lead 

19 agency furnishes oversight in such preparation and 

20 independently evaluates such document and the doc21 ument is approved and adopted by the lead agency 

22 prior to taking any action or making any approval 

23 based on such document. 

24 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CONTRIBUTIONS

25 OF FUNDS.—A lead agency is authorized to accept 


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1 voluntary contributions of funds from a project 

2 sponsor, which the lead agency shall use solely to 

3 undertake an environmental review or make a deci4 sion under an environmental law for a project for 

5 which a Federal agency is undertaking an environ6 mental review. 

7 ‘‘(d) ADOPTION AND USE OF DOCUMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DOCUMENTS PREPARED UNDER NEPA.— 

9 ‘‘(A) Not more than 1 environmental im10 pact statement and 1 environmental assessment 

11 shall be prepared under NEPA for a project, 

12 and, except as otherwise provided by law, the 

13 lead agency shall prepare the environmental im14 pact statement or environmental assessment. 

15 After the lead agency issues a record of deci16 sion, no Federal agency responsible for making 

17 any approval for that project may rely on a doc18 ument other than the environmental document 

19 prepared by the lead agency. 

20 ‘‘(B) Lead agencies shall adopt, use, or 

21 rely upon secondary and cumulative impact 

22 analyses included in any environmental docu23 ment prepared under NEPA for projects in the 

24 same geographic area where the secondary and 

25 cumulative impact analyses provide information 


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1 and data that pertains to the NEPA decision 

2 for the project under review. 

3 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; 

4 SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) Upon the request of a project spon6 sor, a lead agency shall adopt a document that 

7 has been prepared for a project under State 

8 laws and procedures as the environmental im9 pact statement or environmental assessment for 

10 the project, provided that the State laws and 

11 procedures under which the document was pre12 pared provide environmental protection and op13 portunities for public involvement that are sub14 stantially equivalent to NEPA. 

15 ‘‘(B) An environmental document adopted 

16 under subparagraph (A) is deemed to satisfy 

17 the lead agency’s obligation under NEPA to 

18 prepare an environmental impact statement or 

19 environmental assessment. 

20 ‘‘(C) In the case of a document described 

21 in subparagraph (A), during the period after 

22 preparation of the document but before its 

23 adoption by the lead agency, the lead agency 

24 shall prepare and publish a supplement to that 

25 document if the lead agency determines that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a significant change has been 

2 made to the project that is relevant for 

3 purposes of environmental review of the 

4 project; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) there have been significant 

6 changes in circumstances or availability of 

7 information relevant to the environmental 

8 review for the project. 

9 ‘‘(D) If the agency prepares and publishes 

10 a supplemental document under subparagraph 

11 (C), the lead agency may solicit comments from 

12 agencies and the public on the supplemental 

13 document for a period of not more than 30 

14 days beginning on the date of the publication of 

15 the supplement. 

16 ‘‘(E) A lead agency shall issue its record of 

17 decision or finding of no significant impact, as 

18 appropriate, based upon the document adopted 

19 under subparagraph (A), and any supplements 

20 thereto. 

21 ‘‘(3) CONTEMPORANEOUS PROJECTS.—If the 

22 lead agency determines that there is a reasonable 

23 likelihood that the project will have similar environ24 mental impacts as a similar project in geographical 

25 proximity to the project, and that similar project 


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1 was subject to environmental review or similar State 

2 procedures within the 5 year period immediately pre3 ceding the date that the lead agency makes that de4 termination, the lead agency may adopt the environ5 mental document that resulted from that environ6 mental review or similar State procedure. The lead 

7 agency may adopt such an environmental document, 

8 if it is prepared under State laws and procedures 

9 only upon making a favorable determination on such 

10 environmental document pursuant to paragraph 

11 (2)(A). 

12 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall be 

14 responsible for inviting and designating participating 

15 agencies in accordance with this subsection. The 

16 lead agency shall provide the invitation or notice of 

17 the designation in writing. 

18 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—Any 

19 Federal agency that is required to adopt the envi20 ronmental document of the lead agency for a project 

21 shall be designated as a participating agency and 

22 shall collaborate on the preparation of the environ23 mental document, unless the Federal agency informs 

24 the lead agency, in writing, by a time specified by 


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1 the lead agency in the designation of the Federal 

2 agency that the Federal agency— 

3 ‘‘(A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

4 respect to the project; 

5 ‘‘(B) has no expertise or information rel6 evant to the project; and 

7 ‘‘(C) does not intend to submit comments 

8 on the project. 

9 ‘‘(3) INVITATION.—The lead agency shall iden10 tify, as early as practicable in the environmental re11 view for a project, any agencies other than an agen12 cy described in paragraph (2) that may have an in13 terest in the project, including, where appropriate, 

14 Governors of affected States, and shall invite such 

15 identified agencies and Governors to become partici16 pating agencies in the environmental review for the 

17 project. The invitation shall set a deadline of 30 

18 days for responses to be submitted, which may only 

19 be extended by the lead agency for good cause 

20 shown. Any agency that fails to respond prior to the 

21 deadline shall be deemed to have declined the invita22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING PARTICIPATING

24 AGENCY INVITATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) Any agency that declines a designa2 tion or invitation by the lead agency to be a 

3 participating agency shall be precluded from 

4 submitting comments on or taking any meas5 ures to oppose— 

6 ‘‘(i) the project; 

7 ‘‘(ii) any document prepared under 

8 NEPA for that project; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) any permit, license, or approval 

10 related to that project. 

11 ‘‘(B) A lead agency shall disregard and 

12 shall not respond to or include in any document 

13 prepared under NEPA, any comment submitted 

14 by an agency that has declined an invitation or 

15 designation by the lead agency to be a partici16 pating agency. 

17 ‘‘(5) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation 

18 as a participating agency under this subsection does 

19 not imply that the participating agency— 

20 ‘‘(A) supports a proposed project; or 

21 ‘‘(B) has any jurisdiction over, or special 

22 expertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

23 project. 

24 ‘‘(6) COOPERATING AGENCY.—A participating 

25 agency may also be designated by a lead agency as 


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1 a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations con2 tained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg3 ulations, as in effect on January 1, 2011. Designa4 tion as a cooperating agency shall have no effect on 

5 designation as participating agency. No agency that 

6 is not a participating agency may be designated as 

7 a cooperating agency. 

8 ‘‘(7) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal 

9 agency shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) carry out obligations of the Federal 

11 agency under other applicable law concurrently 

12 and in conjunction with the review required 

13 under NEPA; and 

14 ‘‘(B) in accordance with the rules made by 

15 the Council on Environmental Quality pursuant 

16 to subsection (n)(1), make and carry out such 

17 rules, policies, and procedures as may be rea18 sonably necessary to enable the agency to en19 sure completion of the environmental review 

20 and environmental decisionmaking process in a 

21 timely, coordinated, and environmentally re22 sponsible manner. 

23 ‘‘(8) COMMENTS.—Each participating agency 

24 shall limit its comments on a project to areas that 

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1 ticipating agency. Each participating agency shall 

2 identify in such comments the statutory authority of 

3 the participating agency pertaining to the subject 

4 matter of its comments. The lead agency shall not 

5 act upon, respond to or include in any document 

6 prepared under NEPA, any comment submitted by 

7 a participating agency that concerns matters that 

8 are outside of the authority and expertise of the 

9 commenting participating agency. 

10 ‘‘(f) PROJECT INITIATION REQUEST.— 

11 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—A project sponsor shall provide 

12 the Federal agency responsible for undertaking a 

13 project with notice of the initiation of the project by 

14 providing a description of the proposed project, the 

15 general location of the proposed project, and a state16 ment of any Federal approvals anticipated to be nec17 essary for the proposed project, for the purpose of 

18 informing the Federal agency that the environmental 

19 review should be initiated. 

20 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY INITIATION.—The agency 

21 receiving a project initiation notice under paragraph 

22 (1) shall promptly identify the lead agency for the 

23 project, and the lead agency shall initiate the envi24 ronmental review within a period of 45 days after 

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1 viting or designating agencies to become partici2 pating agencies, or, where the lead agency deter3 mines that no participating agencies are required for 

4 the project, by taking such other actions that are 

5 reasonable and necessary to initiate the environ6 mental review. 

7 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION.—As early as practicable 

9 during the environmental review, but no later than 

10 during scoping for a project requiring the prepara11 tion of an environmental impact statement, the lead 

12 agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement 

13 by cooperating agencies in determining the range of 

14 alternatives to be considered for a project. 

15 ‘‘(2) RANGE OF ALTERNATIVES.—Following 

16 participation under paragraph (1), the lead agency 

17 shall determine the range of alternatives for consid18 eration in any document which the lead agency is re19 sponsible for preparing for the project, subject to the 

20 following limitations: 

21 ‘‘(A) NO REQUIREMENT TO EVALUATE

22 CERTAIN ALTERNATIVES.—No Federal agency 

23 shall be required to evaluate any alternative 

24 that was identified but not carried forward for 

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1 ment or evaluated and not selected in any envi2 ronmental document prepared under NEPA for 

3 the same project. 

4 ‘‘(B) ONLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES

5 EVALUATED.—Where a project is being con6 structed, managed, funded, or undertaken by a 

7 project sponsor that is not a Federal agency, 

8 cooperating agencies shall only be required to 

9 evaluate alternatives that the project sponsor 

10 could feasibly undertake, including alternatives 

11 that can actually be undertaken by the project 

12 sponsor, and are technically and economically 

13 feasible. 

14 ‘‘(3) METHODOLOGIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 

16 determine, in collaboration with cooperating 

17 agencies at appropriate times during the envi18 ronmental review, the methodologies to be used 

19 and the level of detail required in the analysis 

20 of each alternative for a project. The lead agen21 cy shall include in the environmental document 

22 a description of the methodologies used and 

23 how the methodologies were selected. 

24 ‘‘(B) NO EVALUATION OF INAPPROPRIATE

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1 mines that an alternative does not meet the 

2 purpose and need for a project, that alternative 

3 is not required to be evaluated in detail in an 

4 environmental document. 

5 ‘‘(4) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—At the dis6 cretion of the lead agency, the preferred alternative 

7 for a project, after being identified, may be devel8 oped to a higher level of detail than other alter9 natives in order to facilitate the development of miti10 gation measures or concurrent compliance with other 

11 applicable laws if the lead agency determines that 

12 the development of such higher level of detail will 

13 not prevent the lead agency from making an impar14 tial decision as to whether to accept another alter15 native which is being considered in the environ16 mental review. 

17 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYMENT ANALYSIS.—The evaluation 

18 of each alternative in an environmental impact state19 ment or an environmental assessment shall identify 

20 the potential effects of the alternative on employ21 ment, including potential short-term and long-term 

22 employment increases and reductions and shifts in 

23 employment. 

24 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND SCHEDULING.— 

25 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 

2 establish and implement a plan for coordinating 

3 public and agency participation in and comment 

4 on the environmental review for a project or 

5 category of projects to facilitate the expeditious 

6 resolution of the environmental review. 

7 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 

9 shall establish as part of the coordination 

10 plan for a project, after consultation with 

11 each participating agency and, where appli12 cable, the project sponsor, a schedule for 

13 completion of the environmental review. 

14 The schedule shall include deadlines, con15 sistent with subsection (i), for decisions 

16 under any other Federal laws (including 

17 the issuance or denial of a permit or li18 cense) relating to the project that is cov19 ered by the schedule. 

20 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDER21 ATION.—In establishing the schedule, the 

22 lead agency shall consider factors such 

23 as— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of par2 ticipating agencies under applicable 

3 laws; 

4 ‘‘(II) resources available to the 

5 participating agencies; 

6 ‘‘(III) overall size and complexity 

7 of the project; 

8 ‘‘(IV) overall schedule for and 

9 cost of the project; 

10 ‘‘(V) the sensitivity of the natural 

11 and historic resources that could be 

12 affected by the project; and 

13 ‘‘(VI) the extent to which similar 

14 projects in geographic proximity were 

15 recently subject to environmental re16 view or similar State procedures. 

17 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHED18 ULE.— 

19 ‘‘(I) All participating agencies 

20 shall comply with the time periods es21 tablished in the schedule or with any 

22 modified time periods, where the lead 

23 agency modifies the schedule pursuant 

24 to subparagraph (D). 


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1 ‘‘(II) The lead agency shall dis2 regard and shall not respond to or in3 clude in any document prepared under 

4 NEPA, any comment or information 

5 submitted or any finding made by a 

6 participating agency that is outside of 

7 the time period established in the 

8 schedule or modification pursuant to 

9 subparagraph (D) for that agency’s 

10 comment, submission or finding. 

11 ‘‘(III) If a participating agency 

12 fails to object in writing to a lead 

13 agency decision, finding or request for 

14 concurrence within the time period es15 tablished under law or by the lead 

16 agency, the agency shall be deemed to 

17 have concurred in the decision, finding 

18 or request. 

19 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER TIME PE20 RIODS.—A schedule under subparagraph (B) 

21 shall be consistent with any other relevant time 

22 periods established under Federal law. 

23 ‘‘(D) MODIFICATION.—The lead agency 

24 may— 


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1 ‘‘(i) lengthen a schedule established 

2 under subparagraph (B) for good cause; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) shorten a schedule only with the 

5 concurrence of the cooperating agencies. 

6 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a sched7 ule under subparagraph (B), and of any modi8 fications to the schedule, shall be— 

9 ‘‘(i) provided within 15 days of com10 pletion or modification of such schedule to 

11 all participating agencies and to the 

12 project sponsor; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) made available to the public. 

14 ‘‘(F) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF

15 LEAD AGENCY.—With respect to the environ16 mental review for any project, the lead agency 

17 shall have authority and responsibility to take 

18 such actions as are necessary and proper, with19 in the authority of the lead agency, to facilitate 

20 the expeditious resolution of the environmental 

21 review for the project. 

22 ‘‘(i) DEADLINES.—The following deadlines shall 

23 apply to any project subject to review under NEPA and 

24 any decision under any Federal law relating to such 


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1 project (including the issuance or denial of a permit or 

2 license or any required finding): 

3 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DEADLINES.— 

4 The lead agency shall complete the environmental 

5 review within the following deadlines: 

6 ‘‘(A) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE7 MENT PROJECTS.—For projects requiring prep8 aration of an environmental impact statement— 

9 ‘‘(i) the lead agency shall issue a 

10 record of decision within 2 years after the 

11 earlier of the date the lead agency receives 

12 the project initiation request or a Notice of 

13 Intent to Prepare an Environmental Im14 pact Statement is published in the Federal 

15 Register; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) in circumstances where the lead 

17 agency has prepared an environmental as18 sessment and determined that an environ19 mental impact statement will be required, 

20 the lead agency shall issue a record of de21 cision within 2 years after the date of pub22 lication of the Notice of Intent to Prepare 

23 an Environmental Impact Statement in the 

24 Federal Register. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

2 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

3 of an environmental assessment, the lead agen4 cy shall issue a finding of no significant impact 

5 or publish a Notice of Intent to Prepare an En6 vironmental Impact Statement in the Federal 

7 Register within 1 year after the earlier of the 

8 date the lead agency receives the project initi9 ation request, makes a decision to prepare an 

10 environmental assessment, or sends out partici11 pating agency invitations. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—The environmental 

14 review deadlines may be extended only if— 

15 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

16 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

17 project sponsor, and all participating agen18 cies; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

20 lead agency for good cause. 

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The environmental re22 view shall not be extended by more than 1 year 

23 for a project requiring preparation of an envi24 ronmental impact statement or by more than 


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1 180 days for a project requiring preparation of 

2 an environmental assessment. 

3 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) COMMENTS ON DRAFT ENVIRON5 MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—For comments 

6 by agencies and the public on a draft environ7 mental impact statement, the lead agency shall 

8 establish a comment period of not more than 60 

9 days after publication in the Federal Register 

10 of notice of the date of public availability of 

11 such document, unless— 

12 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

13 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

14 project sponsor, and all participating agen15 cies; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

17 lead agency for good cause. 

18 ‘‘(B) OTHER COMMENTS.—For all other 

19 comment periods for agency or public comments 

20 in the environmental review process, the lead 

21 agency shall establish a comment period of no 

22 more than 30 days from availability of the ma23 terials on which comment is requested, unless— 

24 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

25 by agreement of the lead agency, the 


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1 project sponsor, and all participating agen2 cies; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

4 lead agency for good cause. 

5 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER

6 OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

7 of law, in any case in which a decision under any 

8 other Federal law relating to the undertaking of a 

9 project being reviewed under NEPA (including the 

10 issuance or denial of a permit or license) is required 

11 to be made, the following deadlines shall apply: 

12 ‘‘(A) DECISIONS PRIOR TO RECORD OF DE13 CISION OR FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IM14 PACT.—If a Federal agency is required to ap15 prove, or make a determination or finding re16 garding, a project prior to the record of deci17 sion or finding of no significant impact, such 

18 Federal agency shall make such determination, 

19 finding, or approval not later than 90 days 

20 after the lead agency publishes a notice of the 

21 availability of the final environmental impact 

22 statement or issuance of other final environ23 mental documents, or no later than such other 

24 date that is otherwise required by law, which25 ever event occurs first. 


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1 ‘‘(B) OTHER DECISIONS.—With regard to 

2 any determination, approval, or finding of a 

3 Federal agency that is not subject to subpara4 graph (A), each Federal agency shall make any 

5 required determination or finding or otherwise 

6 approve or disapprove the project not later than 

7 180 days after the lead agency issues the record 

8 of decision or finding of no significant impact, 

9 unless a different deadline is established by 

10 agreement of the Federal agency, lead agency, 

11 and the project sponsor, where applicable, or 

12 the deadline is extended by the Federal agency 

13 for good cause, provided that such extension 

14 shall not extend beyond a period that is 1 year 

15 after the lead agency issues the record of deci16 sion or finding of no significant impact. 

17 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO ACT.—In the event that 

18 any Federal agency fails to approve or dis19 approve the project, or make a required finding 

20 or determination, within the applicable deadline 

21 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), the 

22 project shall be deemed approved by such agen23 cy and such agency shall issue any required 

24 permit or make any required finding or deter25 mination authorizing the project to proceed 


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1 within 30 days of the applicable deadline de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) and (B). 

3 ‘‘(D) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—Any ap4 proval, determination, finding, or issuance of a 

5 permit under subparagraph (C), is deemed to 

6 be final agency action, and may not be reversed 

7 by any agency. In any action under chapter 7 

8 seeking review of such a final agency action, the 

9 court may not set aside such agency action by 

10 reason of that agency action having occurred 

11 under this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(j) ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) COOPERATION.—The lead agency and the 

14 participating agencies shall work cooperatively in ac15 cordance with this section to identify and resolve 

16 issues that could delay completion of the environ17 mental review or could result in denial of any ap18 provals required for the project under applicable 

19 laws. 

20 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The 

21 lead agency shall make information available to the 

22 participating agencies as early as practicable in the 

23 environmental review regarding the environmental, 

24 historic, and socioeconomic resources located within 

25 the project area and the general locations of the alVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:47 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4377.IH H4377

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1 ternatives under consideration. Such information 

2 may be based on existing data sources, including ge3 ographic information systems mapping. 

4 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.—Based on information received from the lead 

6 agency, participating agencies shall identify, as early 

7 as practicable, any issues of concern regarding the 

8 project’s potential environmental, historic, or socio9 economic impacts. In this paragraph, issues of con10 cern include any issues that could substantially delay 

11 or prevent an agency from granting a permit or 

12 other approval that is needed for the project. 

13 ‘‘(4) ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) MEETING OF PARTICIPATING AGEN15 CIES.—At any time upon request of a project 

16 sponsor, the lead agency shall promptly convene 

17 a meeting with the relevant participating agen18 cies and the project sponsor, to resolve issues 

19 that could delay completion of the environ20 mental review or could result in denial of any 

21 approvals required for the project under appli22 cable laws. 

23 ‘‘(B) NOTICE THAT RESOLUTION CANNOT

24 BE ACHIEVED.—If a resolution cannot be 

25 achieved within 30 days following such a meetVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:47 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4377.IH H4377

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1 ing and a determination by the lead agency that 

2 all information necessary to resolve the issue 

3 has been obtained, the lead agency shall notify 

4 the heads of all participating agencies, the 

5 project sponsor, and the Council on Environ6 mental Quality for further proceedings in ac7 cordance with section 204 of NEPA, and shall 

8 publish such notification in the Federal Reg9 ister. 

10 ‘‘(k) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of each Fed11 eral agency shall report annually to Congress— 

12 ‘‘(1) the projects for which the agency initiated 

13 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

14 environmental assessment; 

15 ‘‘(2) the projects for which the agency issued a 

16 record of decision or finding of no significant impact 

17 and the length of time it took the agency to com18 plete the environmental review for each such project; 

19 ‘‘(3) the filing of any lawsuits against the agen20 cy seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap21 proval issued by the agency for an action subject to 

22 NEPA, including the date the complaint was filed, 

23 the court in which the complaint was filed, and a 

24 summary of the claims for which judicial review was 

25 sought; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) the resolution of any lawsuits against the 

2 agency that sought judicial review of a permit, li3 cense, or approval issued by the agency for an action 

4 subject to NEPA. 

5 ‘‘(l) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 

8 seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap9 proval issued by a Federal agency for an action sub10 ject to NEPA shall be barred unless— 

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of a claim pertaining to 

12 project for which an environmental review was 

13 conducted, the claim is filed by a party that 

14 submitted a comment during the environmental 

15 review on the issue on which the party seeks ju16 dicial review, and such comment was suffi17 ciently detailed to put the lead agency on notice 

18 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial 

19 review; and 

20 ‘‘(B) filed within 180 days after publica21 tion of a notice in the Federal Register an22 nouncing that the permit, license, or approval is 

23 final pursuant to the law under which the agen24 cy action is taken, unless a shorter time is specVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:47 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4377.IH H4377

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1 ified in the Federal law pursuant to which judi2 cial review is allowed. 

3 ‘‘(2) NEW INFORMATION.—The preparation of 

4 a supplemental environmental impact statement, 

5 when required, is deemed a separate final agency ac6 tion and the deadline for filing a claim for judicial 

7 review of such action shall be 180 days after the 

8 date of publication of a notice in the Federal Reg9 ister announcing the record of decision for such ac10 tion. Any claim challenging agency action on the 

11 basis of information in a supplemental environ12 mental impact statement shall be limited to chal13 lenges on the basis of that information. 

14 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

15 this subsection shall be construed to create a right 

16 to judicial review or place any limit on filing a claim 

17 that a person has violated the terms of a permit, li18 cense, or approval. 

19 ‘‘(m) CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS.—The authorities 

20 granted under this subchapter may be exercised for an in21 dividual project or a category of projects. 

22 ‘‘(n) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

23 subchapter shall apply only to environmental reviews and 

24 environmental decisionmaking processes initiated after the 

25 date of enactment of this subchapter. 


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1 ‘‘(o) APPLICABILITY.—This subchapter applies, ac2 cording to the provisions thereof, to all projects for which 

3 a Federal agency is required to undertake an environ4 mental review or make a decision under an environmental 

5 law for a project for which a Federal agency is under6 taking an environmental review.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

8 for chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after the item relating to subchapter II the 

10 following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY COORDINATION REGARDING 

PERMITTING’’. 

11 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

12 (1) COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.— 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the Council on Environmental Quality 

15 shall amend the regulations contained in part 1500 

16 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to imple17 ment the provisions of this Act and the amendments 

18 made by this Act, and shall by rule designate States 

19 with laws and procedures that satisfy the criteria 

20 under section 560(d)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 

21 Code. 

22 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Not later than 120 

23 days after the date that the Council on Environ24 mental Quality amends the regulations contained in 


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1 part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, 

2 to implement the provisions of this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act, each Federal agency 

4 with regulations implementing the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

6 shall amend such regulations to implement the pro7 visions of this subchapter. 

Æ 


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