II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5263 

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

Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report on environmental reviews and causes of action based on alleged non-compliance 

with that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. CRAPO) 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 Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report on environmental reviews and 

causes of action based on alleged non-compliance with 

that 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 ‘‘Studying NEPA’s Im5 pact on Projects Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CEQ ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the National Envi3 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4341) is amend4 ed to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 201. CEQ ANNUAL REPORT. 

6 ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Beginning on July 1, 

7 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (referred to 

8 in this section as the ‘Council’) shall annually publish on 

9 the website of the Council, and submit to Congress, a re10 port on— 

11 ‘‘(1) each cause of action based on alleged non12 compliance with this Act filed during the 1-year pe13 riod ending on June 1 of the calendar year in which 

14 the report is submitted, which shall identify— 

15 ‘‘(A) with respect to each cause of action, 

16 the lead defendant Federal agency and the lead 

17 plaintiff; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of causes of action, 

19 disaggregated by the lead defendant Federal 

20 agency; 

21 ‘‘(C) the alleged basis for each cause of ac22 tion, disaggregated by type; and 

23 ‘‘(D) the status and outcome, if applicable, 

24 of each cause of action based on alleged non25 compliance with this Act filed during that pe26 riod, including whether— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the cause of action resulted in the 

2 major Federal action being reversed; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the lead defendant Federal agen4 cy was allowed to move forward with the 

5 major Federal action; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the court issued a ruling direct7 ing the lead defendant Federal agency to 

8 take additional measures to be in compli9 ance with this Act; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the lead plaintiff and the lead 

11 defendant Federal agency entered into a 

12 settlement agreement; and 

13 ‘‘(v) the cause of action is still in 

14 progress; 

15 ‘‘(2) the length of environmental impact state16 ments prepared pursuant to section 102(2)(C) and 

17 environmental assessments prepared pursuant to 

18 section 106(b)(2) during the 5-year period ending on 

19 June 1 of the calendar year in which the report is 

20 submitted, which shall include— 

21 ‘‘(A) the average and median page count of 

22 each draft and final environmental impact 

23 statement (including the appendix) published in 

24 the Federal Register during that period, includ25 ing the page counts disaggregated by quartiles; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the average and median page count 

2 of each final environmental assessment (includ3 ing the appendix) published in the Federal Reg4 ister during that period, including the page 

5 counts disaggregated by quartiles; 

6 ‘‘(C) the number of draft and final envi7 ronmental impact statements published in the 

8 Federal Register during that period, 

9 disaggregated by lead Federal agency and sub10 agency, as applicable; 

11 ‘‘(D) the number of final environmental as12 sessments published in the Federal Register 

13 during that period, disaggregated by lead Fed14 eral agency and subagency, as applicable; 

15 ‘‘(E) a description of trends in average and 

16 median page count of draft and final environ17 mental impact statements published in the Fed18 eral Register during that period compared those 

19 identified in prior reports published by the 

20 Council under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(F) a description of trends in average and 

22 median page count of final environmental as23 sessments published in the Federal Register 

24 during that period compared to those identified 


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1 in prior reports published by the Council under 

2 this section; and 

3 ‘‘(3) the timelines to complete environmental re4 views pursuant to section 102(2)(C) during the 10- 

5 year period ending on June 1 of the calendar year 

6 in which the report is submitted, which shall in7 clude— 

8 ‘‘(A) with respect to each major Federal 

9 action commenced during that period, the date 

10 on which, as applicable— 

11 ‘‘(i) the notice of intent to prepare the 

12 environmental impact statement was pub13 lished in the Federal Register; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the draft environmental impact 

15 statement was published in the Federal 

16 Register; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the final environmental impact 

18 statement was published in the Federal 

19 Register; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) the record of decision was pub21 lished in the Federal Register; 

22 ‘‘(B) the average and median publication 

23 timelines during that period for each document 

24 described in subparagraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a description of trends in completion 

2 times during that period for those documents 

3 compared to the documents identified in prior 

4 reports published by the Council under this sec5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Council 

7 shall publish with each report published under subsection 

8 (a) the underlying data used to prepare the report.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 204 of the 

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

11 4344) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking paragraph (1); and 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

14 (8) as paragraphs (1) through (7), respectively. 

Æ 


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