II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4619 

To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to impose time 

limits on the completion of certain required actions under the Act, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. BARRASSO) 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 impose time limits on the completion of certain required actions under the Act, 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 Accountability 

5 and Enforcement Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT 

7 TIMELINES. 

8 Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

9 1969 is amended— 


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

2 4335) as section 106; and 

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

4 4334) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 105. APPLICABLE TIMELINES. 

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

7 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

8 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 

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

10 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal 

11 agency’ includes a State that has assumed responsi12 bility under section 327 of title 23, United States 

13 Code. 

14 ‘‘(3) HEAD OF A FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

16 head of an applicable State agency of a State that 

17 has assumed responsibility under section 327 of title 

18 23, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(4) NEPA PROCESS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘NEPA 

21 process’ means the entirety of every process, 

22 analysis, or other measure, including an envi23 ronmental impact statement, required to be car24 ried out by a Federal agency under this title be25 fore the agency undertakes a proposed action. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PERIOD.—For purposes of subpara2 graph (A), the NEPA process— 

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

4 head of a Federal agency receives an appli5 cation for a proposed action from a project 

6 sponsor; and 

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

8 Federal agency issues, with respect to the 

9 proposed action— 

10 ‘‘(I) a record of decision, includ11 ing, if necessary, a revised record of 

12 decision; 

13 ‘‘(II) a finding of no significant 

14 impact; or 

15 ‘‘(III) a categorical exclusion 

16 under this title. 

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

18 sponsor’ means a Federal agency or other entity, in19 cluding a private or public-private entity, that seeks 

20 approval of a proposed action. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE TIMELINES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) NEPA PROCESS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of a Federal 

24 agency shall complete the NEPA process for a 

25 proposed action of the Federal agency, as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4619.IS S4619

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1 scribed in subsection (a)(4)(B)(ii), not later 

2 than 2 years after the date described in sub3 section (a)(4)(B)(i). 

4 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

5 Within the period described in subparagraph 

6 (A), not later than 1 year after the date de7 scribed in subsection (a)(4)(B)(i), the head of 

8 the Federal agency shall, with respect to the 

9 proposed action— 

10 ‘‘(i) issue— 

11 ‘‘(I) a finding that a categorical 

12 exclusion applies to the proposed ac13 tion; or 

14 ‘‘(II) a finding of no significant 

15 impact; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) publish a notice of intent to pre17 pare an environmental impact statement in 

18 the Federal Register. 

19 ‘‘(C) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE20 MENT.—If the head of a Federal agency pub21 lishes a notice of intent described in subpara22 graph (B)(ii), within the period described in 

23 subparagraph (A) and not later than 1 year 

24 after the date on which the head of the Federal 

25 agency publishes the notice of intent, the head 


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1 of the Federal agency shall complete the envi2 ronmental impact statement and, if necessary, 

3 any supplemental environmental impact state4 ment for the proposed action. 

5 ‘‘(D) PENALTIES.— 

6 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara7 graph: 

8 ‘‘(I) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Di9 rector’ means the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget. 

11 ‘‘(II) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 

12 term ‘Federal agency’ does not in13 clude a State. 

14 ‘‘(III) FINAL NEPA COMPLIANCE

15 DATE.—The term ‘final NEPA com16 pliance date’, with respect to a pro17 posed action, means the date by which 

18 the head of a Federal agency is re19 quired to complete the NEPA process 

20 under subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(IV) HEAD OF A FEDERAL

22 AGENCY.—The term ‘head of a Fed23 eral agency’ does not include the gov24 ernor or head of a State agency of a 

25 State. 


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1 ‘‘(V) INITIAL EIS COMPLIANCE

2 DATE.—The term ‘initial EIS compli3 ance date’, with respect to a proposed 

4 action for which a Federal agency 

5 published a notice of intent described 

6 in subparagraph (B)(ii), means the 

7 date by which an environmental im8 pact statement for that proposed ac9 tion is required to be completed under 

10 subparagraph (C). 

11 ‘‘(VI) INITIAL NEPA COMPLIANCE

12 DATE.—The term ‘initial NEPA com13 pliance date’, with respect to a pro14 posed action, means the date by which 

15 the head of a Federal agency is re16 quired to issue or publish a document 

17 described in subparagraph (B) for 

18 that proposed action under that sub19 paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(VII) INITIAL NONCOMPLIANCE

21 DETERMINATION.—The term ‘initial 

22 noncompliance determination’ means 

23 a determination under clause 

24 (ii)(I)(bb) that the head of a Federal 

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1 quirements of subparagraph (A), (B), 

2 or (C). 

3 ‘‘(ii) INITIAL NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(I) DETERMINATION.— 

5 ‘‘(aa) NOTIFICATION.—As 

6 soon as practicable after the date 

7 described in subsection 

8 (a)(4)(B)(i) for a proposed action 

9 of a Federal agency, the head of 

10 the Federal agency shall notify 

11 the Director that the head of the 

12 Federal agency is beginning the 

13 NEPA process for that proposed 

14 action. 

15 ‘‘(bb) DETERMINATIONS OF

16 COMPLIANCE.— 

17 ‘‘(AA) INITIAL DETER18 MINATION.—As soon as 

19 practicable after the initial 

20 NEPA compliance date for a 

21 proposed action, the Direc22 tor shall determine whether, 

23 as of the initial NEPA com24 pliance date, the head of the 

25 Federal agency has complied 


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1 with subparagraph (B) for 

2 that proposed action. 

3 ‘‘(BB) ENVIRON4 MENTAL IMPACT STATE5 MENT.—With respect to a 

6 proposed action of a Federal 

7 agency in which the head of 

8 the Federal agency publishes 

9 a notice of intent described 

10 in subparagraph (B)(ii), as 

11 soon as practicable after the 

12 initial EIS compliance date 

13 for a proposed action, the 

14 Director shall determine 

15 whether, as of the initial 

16 EIS compliance date, the 

17 head of the Federal agency 

18 has complied with subpara19 graph (C) for that proposed 

20 action. 

21 ‘‘(CC) COMPLETION OF

22 NEPA PROCESS.—As soon as 

23 practicable after the final 

24 NEPA compliance date for a 

25 proposed action, the DirecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4619.IS S4619

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1 tor shall determine whether, 

2 as of the final NEPA com3 pliance date, the head of the 

4 Federal agency has complied 

5 with subparagraph (A) for 

6 that proposed action. 

7 ‘‘(II) IDENTIFICATION; PENALTY; 

8 NOTIFICATION.—If the Director 

9 makes an initial noncompliance deter10 mination for a proposed action— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the Director shall 

12 identify the account for the sala13 ries and expenses of the office of 

14 the head of the Federal agency, 

15 or an equivalent account; 

16 ‘‘(bb) beginning on the day 

17 after the date on which the Di18 rector makes the initial non19 compliance determination, the 

20 amount that the head of the Fed21 eral agency may obligate from 

22 the account identified under item 

23 (aa) for the fiscal year during 

24 which the determination is made 

25 shall be reduced by 0.5 percent 


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1 from the amount initially made 

2 available for the account for that 

3 fiscal year; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) the Director shall no5 tify the head of the Federal 

6 agency of— 

7 ‘‘(AA) the initial non8 compliance determination; 

9 ‘‘(BB) the account 

10 identified under item (aa); 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(CC) the reduction 

13 under item (bb). 

14 ‘‘(iii) CONTINUED NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(I) DETERMINATION.—Every 

16 90 days after the date of an initial 

17 noncompliance determination, the Di18 rector shall determine whether the 

19 head of the Federal agency has com20 plied with the applicable requirements 

21 of subparagraphs (A) through (C) for 

22 the proposed action, until the date on 

23 which the Director determines that 

24 the head of the Federal agency has 


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1 completed the NEPA process for the 

2 proposed action. 

3 ‘‘(II) PENALTY; NOTIFICATION.— 

4 For each determination made by the 

5 Director under subclause (I) that the 

6 head of a Federal agency has not 

7 complied with a requirement of sub8 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) for a pro9 posed action— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the amount that the 

11 head of the Federal agency may 

12 obligate from the account identi13 fied under clause (ii)(II)(aa) for 

14 the fiscal year during which the 

15 most recent determination under 

16 subclause (I) is made shall be re17 duced by 0.5 percent from the 

18 amount initially made available 

19 for the account for that fiscal 

20 year; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) the Director shall no22 tify the head of the Federal 

23 agency of— 


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1 ‘‘(AA) the determina2 tion under subclause (I); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(BB) the reduction 

5 under item (aa). 

6 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(I) AMOUNTS NOT RESTORED.— 

8 A reduction in the amount that the 

9 head of a Federal agency may obligate 

10 under clause (ii)(II)(bb) or 

11 (iii)(II)(aa) during a fiscal year shall 

12 not be restored for that fiscal year, 

13 without regard to whether the head of 

14 a Federal agency completes the 

15 NEPA process for the proposed action 

16 with respect to which the Director 

17 made an initial noncompliance deter18 mination or a determination under 

19 clause (iii)(I). 

20 ‘‘(II) REQUIRED TIMELINES.— 

21 The violation of subparagraph (B) or 

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1 cable compliance date under subpara2 graph (A), (B), or (C). 

3 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATIONS AND PERMITS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

5 days after the date described in subsection 

6 (a)(4)(B)(ii), the head of a Federal agency shall 

7 issue— 

8 ‘‘(i) any necessary permit or author9 ization to carry out the proposed action; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) a denial of the permit or author11 ization necessary to carry out the proposed 

12 action. 

13 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ISSUE AU14 THORIZATION OR PERMIT.—If a permit or au15 thorization described in subparagraph (A) is 

16 not issued or denied within the period described 

17 in that subparagraph, the permit or authoriza18 tion shall be considered to be approved. 

19 ‘‘(C) DENIAL OF PERMIT OR AUTHORIZA20 TION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a permit or au22 thorization described in subparagraph (A) 

23 is denied, the head of the Federal agency 

24 shall describe to the project sponsor— 

25 ‘‘(I) the basis of the denial; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) recommendations for the 

2 project sponsor with respect to how to 

3 address the reasons for the denial. 

4 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDED CHANGES.—If 

5 the project sponsor carries out the rec6 ommendations of the head of the Federal 

7 agency under clause (i)(II) and notifies the 

8 head of the Federal agency that the rec9 ommendations have been carried out, the 

10 head of the Federal agency— 

11 ‘‘(I) shall decide whether to issue 

12 the permit or authorization described 

13 in subparagraph (A) not later than 90 

14 days after date on which the project 

15 sponsor submitted the notification; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(II) shall not carry out the 

18 NEPA process with respect to the 

19 proposed action again.’’. 

Æ 


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