IB 

Union Calendar No. 431 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4377 

[Report No. 112–596, Part I] 

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 

JULY 17, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ROONEY, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. WEST, Mr. 

AMODEI, Mr. LONG, Mr. QUAYLE, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. POE

of Texas, and Mrs. ADAMS

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

JULY 17, 2012 

The Committee on Natural Resources discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 18, 2012] 


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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. 


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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 Profes5 sionally Invigorating Development Act of 2012’’ or as the 

6 ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE OP8 ERATIONS FOR EFFICIENT DECISIONMAKING. 

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

10 United States Code, is amended by inserting after sub11 chapter II the following: 

12 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY 

13 COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING 

14 ‘‘§ 560. Coordination of agency administrative oper15 ations for efficient decisionmaking 

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

17 The purpose of this subchapter is to establish a framework 

18 and procedures to streamline, increase the efficiency of, and 

19 enhance coordination of agency administration of the regu20 latory review, environmental decisionmaking, and permit21 ting process for projects undertaken, reviewed, or funded by 

22 Federal agencies. This subchapter will ensure that agencies 

23 administer the regulatory process in a manner that is effi24 cient so that citizens are not burdened with regulatory ex25 cuses and time delays. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subchapter, 

2 the term— 

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

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

5 government; 

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

7 projects related by project type, potential environ8 mental impacts, geographic location, or another simi9 lar project feature or characteristic; 

10 ‘‘(3) ‘environmental assessment’ means a concise 

11 public document for which a Federal agency is re12 sponsible that serves to— 

13 ‘‘(A) briefly provide sufficient evidence and 

14 analysis for determining whether to prepare an 

15 environmental impact statement or a finding of 

16 no significant impact; 

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

18 NEPA when no environmental impact statement 

19 is necessary; and 

20 ‘‘(C) facilitate preparation of an environ21 mental impact statement when one is necessary; 

22 ‘‘(4) ‘environmental impact statement’ means the 

23 detailed statement of significant environmental im24 pacts required to be prepared under NEPA; 


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

2 agency procedures for preparing an environmental 

3 impact statement, environmental assessment, categor4 ical exclusion, or other document under NEPA; 

5 ‘‘(6) ‘environmental decisionmaking process’ 

6 means the Federal agency procedures for undertaking 

7 and completion of any environmental permit, deci8 sion, approval, review, or study under any Federal 

9 law other than NEPA for a project subject to an envi10 ronmental review; 

11 ‘‘(7) ‘environmental document’ means an envi12 ronmental assessment or environmental impact state13 ment, and includes any supplemental document or 

14 document prepared pursuant to a court order; 

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

16 document by a Federal agency briefly presenting the 

17 reasons why a project, not otherwise subject to a cat18 egorical exclusion, will not have a significant effect on 

19 the human environment and for which an environ20 mental impact statement therefore will not be pre21 pared; 

22 ‘‘(9) ‘lead agency’ means the Federal agency pre23 paring or responsible for preparing the environmental 

24 document; 


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1 ‘‘(10) ‘NEPA’ means the National Environ2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(11) ‘project’ means major Federal actions that 

4 are construction activities undertaken with Federal 

5 funds or that are construction activities that require 

6 approval by a permit or regulatory decision issued by 

7 a Federal agency; 

8 ‘‘(12) ‘project sponsor’ means the agency or other 

9 entity, including any private or public-private entity, 

10 that seeks approval for a project or is otherwise re11 sponsible for undertaking a project; and 

12 ‘‘(13) ‘record of decision’ means a document pre13 pared by a lead agency under NEPA following an en14 vironmental impact statement that states the lead 

15 agency’s decision, identifies the alternatives consid16 ered by the agency in reaching its decision and states 

17 whether all practicable means to avoid or minimize 

18 environmental harm from the alternative selected have 

19 been adopted, and if not, why they were not adopted. 

20 ‘‘(c) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU21 MENTS.—Upon the request of the lead agency, the project 

22 sponsor shall be authorized to prepare any document for 

23 purposes of an environmental review required in support 

24 of any project or approval by the lead agency if the lead 

25 agency furnishes oversight in such preparation and indeVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:41 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4377.RH H4377

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1 pendently evaluates such document and the document is ap2 proved and adopted by the lead agency prior to taking any 

3 action or making any approval based on such document. 

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

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

6 ‘‘(A) Not more than 1 environmental im7 pact statement and 1 environmental assessment 

8 shall be prepared under NEPA for a project (ex9 cept for supplemental environmental documents 

10 prepared under NEPA or environmental docu11 ments prepared pursuant to a court order), and, 

12 except as otherwise provided by law, the lead 

13 agency shall prepare the environmental impact 

14 statement or environmental assessment. After the 

15 lead agency issues a record of decision, no Fed16 eral agency responsible for making any approval 

17 for that project may rely on a document other 

18 than the environmental document prepared by 

19 the lead agency. 

20 ‘‘(B) Upon the request of a project sponsor, 

21 a lead agency may adopt, use, or rely upon sec22 ondary and cumulative impact analyses in23 cluded in any environmental document prepared 

24 under NEPA for projects in the same geographic 

25 area where the secondary and cumulative impact 


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1 analyses provide information and data that per2 tains to the NEPA decision for the project under 

3 review. 

4 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; SUP5 PLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) Upon the request of a project sponsor, 

7 a lead agency may adopt a document that has 

8 been prepared for a project under State laws and 

9 procedures as the environmental impact state10 ment or environmental assessment for the 

11 project, provided that the State laws and proce12 dures under which the document was prepared 

13 provide environmental protection and opportuni14 ties for public involvement that are substantially 

15 equivalent to NEPA. 

16 ‘‘(B) An environmental document adopted 

17 under subparagraph (A) is deemed to satisfy the 

18 lead agency’s obligation under NEPA to prepare 

19 an environmental impact statement or environ20 mental assessment. 

21 ‘‘(C) In the case of a document described in 

22 subparagraph (A), during the period after prepa23 ration of the document but before its adoption by 

24 the lead agency, the lead agency shall prepare 


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1 and publish a supplement to that document if 

2 the lead agency determines that— 

3 ‘‘(i) a significant change has been 

4 made to the project that is relevant for pur5 poses of environmental review of the project; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(ii) there have been significant 

8 changes in circumstances or availability of 

9 information relevant to the environmental 

10 review for the project. 

11 ‘‘(D) If the agency prepares and publishes a 

12 supplemental document under subparagraph (C), 

13 the lead agency may solicit comments from agen14 cies and the public on the supplemental docu15 ment for a period of not more than 45 days be16 ginning on the date of the publication of the sup17 plement. 

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

19 decision or finding of no significant impact, as 

20 appropriate, based upon the document adopted 

21 under subparagraph (A), and any supplements 

22 thereto. 

23 ‘‘(3) CONTEMPORANEOUS PROJECTS.—If the lead 

24 agency determines that there is a reasonable likeli25 hood that the project will have similar environmental 


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1 impacts as a similar project in geographical prox2 imity to the project, and that similar project was sub3 ject to environmental review or similar State proce4 dures within the 5 year period immediately preceding 

5 the date that the lead agency makes that determina6 tion, the lead agency may adopt the environmental 

7 document that resulted from that environmental re8 view or similar State procedure. The lead agency may 

9 adopt such an environmental document, if it is pre10 pared under State laws and procedures only upon 

11 making a favorable determination on such environ12 mental document pursuant to paragraph (2)(A). 

13 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall be re15 sponsible for inviting and designating participating 

16 agencies in accordance with this subsection. The lead 

17 agency shall provide the invitation or notice of the 

18 designation in writing. 

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

20 Federal agency that is required to adopt the environ21 mental document of the lead agency for a project shall 

22 be designated as a participating agency and shall col23 laborate on the preparation of the environmental doc24 ument, unless the Federal agency informs the lead 

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


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1 agency in the designation of the Federal agency that 

2 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 on 

8 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 agency 

12 described in paragraph (2) that may have an interest 

13 in the project, including, where appropriate, Gov14 ernors of affected States, and heads of appropriate 

15 tribal and local (including county) governments, and 

16 shall invite such identified agencies and officials to 

17 become participating agencies in the environmental 

18 review for the project. The invitation shall set a dead19 line of 30 days for responses to be submitted, which 

20 may only be extended by the lead agency for good 

21 cause shown. Any agency that fails to respond prior 

22 to the deadline shall be deemed to have declined the 

23 invitation. 

24 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING PARTICIPATING

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1 ignation or invitation by the lead agency to be a par2 ticipating agency shall be precluded from submitting 

3 comments on any document prepared under NEPA 

4 for that project or taking any measures to oppose, 

5 based on the environmental review, any permit, li6 cense, or approval related to that project. 

7 ‘‘(5) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation as 

8 a participating agency under this subsection does not 

9 imply that the participating agency— 

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

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

12 expertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

13 project. 

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

15 agency may also be designated by a lead agency as 

16 a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations con17 tained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regu18 lations, as in effect on January 1, 2011. Designation 

19 as a cooperating agency shall have no effect on des20 ignation as participating agency. No agency that is 

21 not a participating agency may be designated as a 

22 cooperating agency. 

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

24 agency shall— 


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

2 agency under other applicable law concurrently 

3 and in conjunction with the review required 

4 under NEPA; and 

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

6 the Council on Environmental Quality pursuant 

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

8 rules, policies, and procedures as may be reason9 ably necessary to enable the agency to ensure 

10 completion of the environmental review and en11 vironmental decisionmaking process in a timely, 

12 coordinated, and environmentally responsible 

13 manner. 

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

15 shall limit its comments on a project to areas that are 

16 within the authority and expertise of such partici17 pating agency. Each participating agency shall iden18 tify in such comments the statutory authority of the 

19 participating agency pertaining to the subject matter 

20 of its comments. The lead agency shall not act upon, 

21 respond to or include in any document prepared 

22 under NEPA, any comment submitted by a partici23 pating agency that concerns matters that are outside 

24 of the authority and expertise of the commenting par25 ticipating agency. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PROJECT INITIATION REQUEST.— 

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

3 the Federal agency responsible for undertaking a 

4 project with notice of the initiation of the project by 

5 providing a description of the proposed project, the 

6 general location of the proposed project, and a state7 ment of any Federal approvals anticipated to be nec8 essary for the proposed project, for the purpose of in9 forming the Federal agency that the environmental 

10 review should be initiated. 

11 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY INITIATION.—The agency re12 ceiving a project initiation notice under paragraph 

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

14 project, and the lead agency shall initiate the environ15 mental review within a period of 45 days after receiv16 ing the notice required by paragraph (1) by inviting 

17 or designating agencies to become participating agen18 cies, or, where the lead agency determines that no 

19 participating agencies are required for the project, by 

20 taking such other actions that are reasonable and nec21 essary to initiate the environmental review. 

22 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.— 

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

24 during the environmental review, but no later than 

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1 tion of an environmental impact statement, the lead 

2 agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement 

3 by cooperating agencies in determining the range of 

4 alternatives to be considered for a project. 

5 ‘‘(2) RANGE OF ALTERNATIVES.—Following par6 ticipation under paragraph (1), the lead agency shall 

7 determine the range of alternatives for consideration 

8 in any document which the lead agency is responsible 

9 for preparing for the project, subject to the following 

10 limitations: 

11 ‘‘(A) NO EVALUATION OF CERTAIN ALTER12 NATIVES.—No Federal agency shall evaluate any 

13 alternative that was identified but not carried 

14 forward for detailed evaluation in an environ15 mental document or evaluated and not selected 

16 in any environmental document prepared under 

17 NEPA for the same project. 

18 ‘‘(B) ONLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES EVAL19 UATED.—Where a project is being constructed, 

20 managed, funded, or undertaken by a project 

21 sponsor that is not a Federal agency, Federal 

22 agencies shall only be required to evaluate alter23 natives that the project sponsor could feasibly 

24 undertake, consistent with the purpose of and the 

25 need for the project, including alternatives that 


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1 can be undertaken by the project sponsor and 

2 that are technically and economically feasible. 

3 ‘‘(3) METHODOLOGIES.— 

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

5 determine, in collaboration with cooperating 

6 agencies at appropriate times during the envi7 ronmental review, the methodologies to be used 

8 and the level of detail required in the analysis 

9 of each alternative for a project. The lead agency 

10 shall include in the environmental document a 

11 description of the methodologies used and how 

12 the methodologies were selected. 

13 ‘‘(B) NO EVALUATION OF INAPPROPRIATE

14 ALTERNATIVES.—When a lead agency determines 

15 that an alternative does not meet the purpose 

16 and need for a project, that alternative is not re17 quired to be evaluated in detail in an environ18 mental document. 

19 ‘‘(4) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—At the discre20 tion of the lead agency, the preferred alternative for 

21 a project, after being identified, may be developed to 

22 a higher level of detail than other alternatives in 

23 order to facilitate the development of mitigation 

24 measures or concurrent compliance with other appli25 cable laws if the lead agency determines that the deVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:41 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4377.RH H4377

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1 velopment of such higher level of detail will not pre2 vent the lead agency from making an impartial deci3 sion as to whether to accept another alternative which 

4 is being considered in the environmental review. 

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

6 each alternative in an environmental impact state7 ment or an environmental assessment shall identify 

8 the potential effects of the alternative on employment, 

9 including potential short-term and long-term employ10 ment increases and reductions and shifts in employ11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND SCHEDULING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 

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

15 establish and implement a plan for coordinating 

16 public and agency participation in and com17 ment on the environmental review for a project 

18 or category of projects to facilitate the expedi19 tious resolution of the environmental review. 

20 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 

22 shall establish as part of the coordination 

23 plan for a project, after consultation with 

24 each participating agency and, where ap25 plicable, the project sponsor, a schedule for 


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1 completion of the environmental review. The 

2 schedule shall include deadlines, consistent 

3 with subsection (i), for decisions under any 

4 other Federal laws (including the issuance 

5 or denial of a permit or license) relating to 

6 the project that is covered by the schedule. 

7 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.— 

8 In establishing the schedule, the lead agency 

9 shall consider factors such as— 

10 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of partici11 pating agencies under applicable laws; 

12 ‘‘(II) resources available to the 

13 participating agencies; 

14 ‘‘(III) overall size and complexity 

15 of the project; 

16 ‘‘(IV) overall schedule for and cost 

17 of the project; 

18 ‘‘(V) the sensitivity of the natural 

19 and historic resources that could be af20 fected by the project; and 

21 ‘‘(VI) the extent to which similar 

22 projects in geographic proximity were 

23 recently subject to environmental re24 view or similar State procedures. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHED2 ULE.— 

3 ‘‘(I) All participating agencies 

4 shall comply with the time periods es5 tablished in the schedule or with any 

6 modified time periods, where the lead 

7 agency modifies the schedule pursuant 

8 to subparagraph (D). 

9 ‘‘(II) The lead agency shall dis10 regard and shall not respond to or in11 clude in any document prepared under 

12 NEPA, any comment or information 

13 submitted or any finding made by a 

14 participating agency that is outside of 

15 the time period established in the 

16 schedule or modification pursuant to 

17 subparagraph (D) for that agency’s 

18 comment, submission or finding. 

19 ‘‘(III) If a participating agency 

20 fails to object in writing to a lead 

21 agency decision, finding or request for 

22 concurrence within the time period es23 tablished under law or by the lead 

24 agency, the agency shall be deemed to 


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1 have concurred in the decision, finding 

2 or request. 

3 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER TIME PERI4 ODS.—A schedule under subparagraph (B) shall 

5 be consistent with any other relevant time peri6 ods established under Federal law. 

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

8 may— 

9 ‘‘(i) lengthen a schedule established 

10 under subparagraph (B) for good cause; and 

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

12 concurrence of the cooperating agencies. 

13 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a sched14 ule under subparagraph (B), and of any modi15 fications to the schedule, shall be— 

16 ‘‘(i) provided within 15 days of com17 pletion or modification of such schedule to 

18 all participating agencies and to the project 

19 sponsor; and 

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

21 ‘‘(F) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF LEAD

22 AGENCY.—With respect to the environmental re23 view for any project, the lead agency shall have 

24 authority and responsibility to take such actions 

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1 ity of the lead agency, to facilitate the expedi2 tious resolution of the environmental review for 

3 the project. 

4 ‘‘(i) DEADLINES.—The following deadlines shall apply 

5 to any project subject to review under NEPA and any deci6 sion under any Federal law relating to such project (includ7 ing the issuance or denial of a permit or license or any 

8 required finding): 

9 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DEADLINES.—The 

10 lead agency shall complete the environmental review 

11 within the following deadlines: 

12 ‘‘(A) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

13 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

14 of an environmental impact statement— 

15 ‘‘(i) the lead agency shall issue an en16 vironmental impact statement within 2 

17 years after the earlier of the date the lead 

18 agency receives the project initiation request 

19 or a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Envi20 ronmental Impact Statement is published 

21 in the Federal Register; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) in circumstances where the lead 

23 agency has prepared an environmental as24 sessment and determined that an environ25 mental impact statement will be required, 


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1 the lead agency shall issue the environ2 mental impact statement within 2 years 

3 after the date of publication of the Notice of 

4 Intent to Prepare an Environmental Im5 pact Statement in the Federal Register. 

6 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

7 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

8 of an environmental assessment, the lead agency 

9 shall issue a finding of no significant impact or 

10 publish a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Envi11 ronmental Impact Statement in the Federal Reg12 ister within 1 year after the earlier of the date 

13 the lead agency receives the project initiation re14 quest, makes a decision to prepare an environ15 mental assessment, or sends out participating 

16 agency invitations. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—The environmental 

19 review deadlines may be extended only if— 

20 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

21 by agreement of the lead agency, the project 

22 sponsor, and all participating agencies; or 

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

24 lead agency for good cause. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The environmental re2 view shall not be extended by more than 1 year 

3 for a project requiring preparation of an envi4 ronmental impact statement or by more than 

5 180 days for a project requiring preparation of 

6 an environmental assessment. 

7 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) COMMENTS ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL

9 IMPACT STATEMENT.—For comments by agencies 

10 and the public on a draft environmental impact 

11 statement, the lead agency shall establish a com12 ment period of not more than 60 days after pub13 lication in the Federal Register of notice of the 

14 date of public availability of such document, un15 less— 

16 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

17 by agreement of the lead agency, the project 

18 sponsor, and all participating agencies; or 

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

20 lead agency for good cause. 

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

22 comment periods for agency or public comments 

23 in the environmental review process, the lead 

24 agency shall establish a comment period of no 


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1 more than 30 days from availability of the mate2 rials on which comment is requested, unless— 

3 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

4 by agreement of the lead agency, the project 

5 sponsor, and all participating agencies; or 

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

7 lead agency for good cause. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER OTHER

9 LAWS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

10 in any case in which a decision under any other Fed11 eral law relating to the undertaking of a project being 

12 reviewed under NEPA (including the issuance or de13 nial of a permit or license) is required to be made, 

14 the following deadlines shall apply: 

15 ‘‘(A) DECISIONS PRIOR TO RECORD OF DE16 CISION OR FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IM17 PACT.—If a Federal agency is required to ap18 prove, or otherwise to act upon, a permit, li19 cense, or other similar application for approval 

20 related to a project prior to the record of decision 

21 or finding of no significant impact, such Federal 

22 agency shall approve or otherwise act not later 

23 than the end of a 90 day period beginning— 

24 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re25 view related to the project is complete; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) after the lead agency publishes a 

2 notice of the availability of the final envi3 ronmental impact statement or issuance of 

4 other final environmental documents, or no 

5 later than such other date that is otherwise 

6 required by law, whichever event occurs 

7 first. 

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

9 any approval or other action related to a project 

10 by a Federal agency that is not subject to sub11 paragraph (A), each Federal agency shall ap12 prove or otherwise act not later than the end of 

13 a period of 180 days beginning— 

14 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re15 view related to the project is complete; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) after the lead agency issues the 

17 record of decision or finding of no signifi18 cant impact, unless a different deadline is 

19 established by agreement of the Federal 

20 agency, lead agency, and the project spon21 sor, where applicable, or the deadline is ex22 tended by the Federal agency for good cause, 

23 provided that such extension shall not ex24 tend beyond a period that is 1 year after 


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1 the lead agency issues the record of decision 

2 or finding of no significant impact. 

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

4 any Federal agency fails to approve, or otherwise 

5 to act upon, a permit, license, or other similar 

6 application for approval related to a project 

7 within the applicable deadline described in sub8 paragraph (A) or (B), the permit, license, or 

9 other similar application shall be deemed ap10 proved by such agency and the agency shall take 

11 action in accordance with such appoval within 

12 30 days of the applicable deadline described in 

13 subparagraph (A) or (B). 

14 ‘‘(D) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—Any ap15 proval under subparagraph (C) is deemed to be 

16 final agency action, and may not be reversed by 

17 any agency. In any action under chapter 7 seek18 ing review of such a final agency action, the 

19 court may not set aside such agency action by 

20 reason of that agency action having occurred 

21 under this paragraph. 

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

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

24 participating agencies shall work cooperatively in ac25 cordance with this section to identify and resolve 


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1 issues that could delay completion of the environ2 mental review or could result in denial of any ap3 provals required for the project under applicable laws. 

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

5 lead agency shall make information available to the 

6 participating agencies as early as practicable in the 

7 environmental review regarding the environmental, 

8 historic, and socioeconomic resources located within 

9 the project area and the general locations of the alter10 natives under consideration. Such information may 

11 be based on existing data sources, including geo12 graphic information systems mapping. 

13 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY RESPONSIBIL14 ITIES.—Based on information received from the lead 

15 agency, participating agencies shall identify, as early 

16 as practicable, any issues of concern regarding the 

17 project’s potential environmental, historic, or socio18 economic impacts. In this paragraph, issues of con19 cern include any issues that could substantially delay 

20 or prevent an agency from granting a permit or other 

21 approval that is needed for the project. 

22 ‘‘(4) ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) MEETING OF PARTICIPATING AGEN24 CIES.—At any time upon request of a project 

25 sponsor, the lead agency shall promptly convene 


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1 a meeting with the relevant participating agen2 cies and the project sponsor, to resolve issues that 

3 could delay completion of the environmental re4 view or could result in denial of any approvals 

5 required for the project under applicable laws. 

6 ‘‘(B) NOTICE THAT RESOLUTION CANNOT BE

7 ACHIEVED.—If a resolution cannot be achieved 

8 within 30 days following such a meeting and a 

9 determination by the lead agency that all infor10 mation necessary to resolve the issue has been ob11 tained, the lead agency shall notify the heads of 

12 all participating agencies, the project sponsor, 

13 and the Council on Environmental Quality for 

14 further proceedings in accordance with section 

15 204 of NEPA, and shall publish such notifica16 tion in the Federal Register. 

17 ‘‘(k) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of each Fed18 eral agency shall report annually to Congress— 

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

20 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

21 environmental assessment; 

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

23 record of decision or finding of no significant impact 

24 and the length of time it took the agency to complete 

25 the environmental review for each such project; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the filing of any lawsuits against the agen2 cy seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap3 proval issued by the agency for an action subject to 

4 NEPA, including the date the complaint was filed, 

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

6 summary of the claims for which judicial review was 

7 sought; and 

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

9 agency that sought judicial review of a permit, li10 cense, or approval issued by the agency for an action 

11 subject to NEPA. 

12 ‘‘(l) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.— 

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

14 provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 

15 seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap16 proval issued by a Federal agency for an action sub17 ject to NEPA shall be barred unless— 

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

19 project for which an environmental review was 

20 conducted and an opportunity for comment was 

21 provided, the claim is filed by a party that sub22 mitted a comment during the environmental re23 view on the issue on which the party seeks judi24 cial review, and such comment was sufficiently 

25 detailed to put the lead agency on notice of the 


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1 issue upon which the party seeks judicial review; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) filed within 180 days after publication 

4 of a notice in the Federal Register announcing 

5 that the permit, license, or approval is final pur6 suant to the law under which the agency action 

7 is taken, unless a shorter time is specified in the 

8 Federal law pursuant to which judicial review is 

9 allowed. 

10 ‘‘(2) NEW INFORMATION.—The preparation of a 

11 supplemental environmental impact statement, when 

12 required, is deemed a separate final agency action 

13 and the deadline for filing a claim for judicial review 

14 of such action shall be 180 days after the date of pub15 lication of a notice in the Federal Register announc16 ing the record of decision for such action. Any claim 

17 challenging agency action on the basis of information 

18 in a supplemental environmental impact statement 

19 shall be limited to challenges on the basis of that in20 formation. 

21 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

22 subsection shall be construed to create a right to judi23 cial review or place any limit on filing a claim that 

24 a person has violated the terms of a permit, license, 

25 or approval. 


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

2 granted under this subchapter may be exercised for an indi3 vidual project or a category of projects. 

4 ‘‘(n) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this sub5 chapter shall apply only to environmental reviews and en6 vironmental decisionmaking processes initiated after the 

7 date of enactment of this subchapter. 

8 ‘‘(o) APPLICABILITY.—This subchapter applies, ac9 cording to the provisions thereof, to all projects for which 

10 a Federal agency is required to undertake an environmental 

11 review or make a decision under an environmental law for 

12 a project for which a Federal agency is undertaking an en13 vironmental review.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 

15 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by in16 serting after the item relating to subchapter II the fol17 lowing: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING 

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

18 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

19 (1) COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.—Not 

20 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

21 Act, the Council on Environmental Quality shall 

22 amend the regulations contained in part 1500 of title 

23 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to implement the 


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1 provisions of this Act and the amendments made by 

2 this Act, and shall by rule designate States with laws 

3 and procedures that satisfy the criteria under section 

4 560(d)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code. 

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

6 days after the date that the Council on Environ7 mental Quality amends the regulations contained in 

8 part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to 

9 implement the provisions of this Act and the amend10 ments made by this Act, each Federal agency with 

11 regulations implementing the National Environ12 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

13 shall amend such regulations to implement the provi14 sions of this subchapter. 


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Union Calendar No. 431 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4377 

[Report No. 112–596, Part I] 

A BILL 

To provide for improved coordination of agency acand for other purposes. mental documents for permitting determinations, tions in the preparation and adoption of environJULY 17, 2012 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an 

amendment 

JULY 17, 2012 

The Committee on Natural Resources discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS