IB 

Union Calendar No. 198 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 348 

[Report No. 114–228, 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 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Mr. MARINO (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. MCKINLEY, 

and Mr. BLUM) 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 27, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary 

JULY 27, 2015 

Referral to the Committee on Natural Resources extended for a period ending 

not later than September 11, 2015 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ROUZER, Mr. RUSSELL, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, 

Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. ISSA, Mr. 

SMITH of Missouri, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 

TROTT, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. BRAT, Mr. MESSER, 

Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, and Mr. WEBSTER of Florida 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 

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 


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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 Pro5 fessionally Invigorating Development Act of 2015’’ or as 

6 the ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 

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

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of part 1 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, 

19 and enhance coordination of agency administration of the 

20 regulatory review, environmental decisionmaking, and per21 mitting process for projects undertaken, reviewed, or fund22 ed by Federal agencies. This subchapter will ensure that 

23 agencies administer the regulatory process in a manner 

24 that is efficient so that citizens are not burdened with reg25 ulatory excuses and time delays. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 chapter, 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 

9 similar project feature or characteristic; 

10 ‘‘(3) ‘environmental assessment’ means a con11 cise public document for which a Federal agency is 

12 responsible 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 state19 ment is necessary; and 

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

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

23 the detailed statement of significant environmental 

24 impacts 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, cat4 egorical exclusion, or other document under NEPA; 

5 ‘‘(6) ‘environmental decisionmaking process’ 

6 means the Federal agency procedures for under7 taking and completion of any environmental permit, 

8 decision, approval, review, or study under any Fed9 eral law other than NEPA for a project subject to 

10 an environmental review; 

11 ‘‘(7) ‘environmental document’ means an envi12 ronmental assessment or environmental impact 

13 statement, and includes any supplemental document 

14 or 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 

18 categorical exclusion, will not have a significant ef19 fect on the human environment and for which an en20 vironmental impact statement therefore will not be 

21 prepared; 

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

23 preparing or responsible for preparing the environ24 mental 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 

4 that are construction activities undertaken with Fed5 eral funds or that are construction activities that re6 quire approval by a permit or regulatory decision 

7 issued by a Federal agency; 

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

9 other entity, including any private or public-private 

10 entity, that seeks approval for a project or is other11 wise responsible for undertaking a project; and 

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

13 prepared by a lead agency under NEPA following an 

14 environmental impact statement that states the lead 

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

17 states whether all practicable means to avoid or min18 imize environmental harm from the alternative se19 lected have been adopted, and if not, why they were 

20 not adopted. 

21 ‘‘(c) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU22 MENTS.—Upon the request of the lead agency, the project 

23 sponsor shall be authorized to prepare any document for 

24 purposes of an environmental review required in support 

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


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1 agency furnishes oversight in such preparation and inde2 pendently evaluates such document and the document is 

3 approved and adopted by the lead agency prior to taking 

4 any action or making any approval based on such docu5 ment. 

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

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

8 ‘‘(A) Not more than 1 environmental im9 pact statement and 1 environmental assessment 

10 shall be prepared under NEPA for a project 

11 (except for supplemental environmental docu12 ments prepared under NEPA or environmental 

13 documents prepared pursuant to a court order), 

14 and, except as otherwise provided by law, the 

15 lead agency shall prepare the environmental im16 pact statement or environmental assessment. 

17 After the lead agency issues a record of deci18 sion, no Federal agency responsible for making 

19 any approval for that project may rely on a doc20 ument other than the environmental document 

21 prepared by the lead agency. 

22 ‘‘(B) Upon the request of a project spon23 sor, a lead agency may adopt, use, or rely upon 

24 secondary and cumulative impact analyses in25 cluded in any environmental document prepared 


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1 under NEPA for projects in the same geo2 graphic area where the secondary and cumu3 lative impact analyses provide information and 

4 data that pertains to the NEPA decision for the 

5 project under review. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; 

7 SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) Upon the request of a project spon9 sor, a lead agency may adopt a document that 

10 has been prepared for a project under State 

11 laws and procedures as the environmental im12 pact statement or environmental assessment for 

13 the project, provided that the State laws and 

14 procedures under which the document was pre15 pared provide environmental protection and op16 portunities for public involvement that are sub17 stantially equivalent to NEPA. 

18 ‘‘(B) An environmental document adopted 

19 under subparagraph (A) is deemed to satisfy 

20 the lead agency’s obligation under NEPA to 

21 prepare an environmental impact statement or 

22 environmental assessment. 

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

24 in subparagraph (A), during the period after 

25 preparation of the document but before its 


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1 adoption by the lead agency, the lead agency 

2 shall prepare and publish a supplement to that 

3 document if the lead agency determines that— 

4 ‘‘(i) a significant change has been 

5 made to the project that is relevant for 

6 purposes of environmental review of the 

7 project; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) there have been significant 

9 changes in circumstances or availability of 

10 information relevant to the environmental 

11 review for the project. 

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

13 a supplemental document under subparagraph 

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

15 agencies and the public on the supplemental 

16 document for a period of not more than 45 

17 days beginning on the date of the publication of 

18 the supplement. 

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

20 decision or finding of no significant impact, as 

21 appropriate, based upon the document adopted 

22 under subparagraph (A), and any supplements 

23 thereto. 

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

25 lead agency determines that there is a reasonable 


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1 likelihood that the project will have similar environ2 mental impacts as a similar project in geographical 

3 proximity to the project, and that similar project 

4 was subject to environmental review or similar State 

5 procedures within the 5-year period immediately pre6 ceding the date that the lead agency makes that de7 termination, the lead agency may adopt the environ8 mental document that resulted from that environ9 mental review or similar State procedure. The lead 

10 agency may adopt such an environmental document, 

11 if it is prepared under State laws and procedures 

12 only upon making a favorable determination on such 

13 environmental document pursuant to paragraph 

14 (2)(A). 

15 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

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

17 responsible for inviting and designating participating 

18 agencies in accordance with this subsection. The 

19 lead agency shall provide the invitation or notice of 

20 the designation in writing. 

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

22 Federal agency that is required to adopt the envi23 ronmental document of the lead agency for a project 

24 shall be designated as a participating agency and 

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1 mental document, unless the Federal agency informs 

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

3 the lead agency in the designation of the Federal 

4 agency that the Federal agency— 

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

6 respect to the project; 

7 ‘‘(B) has no expertise or information rel8 evant to the project; and 

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

10 on the project. 

11 ‘‘(3) INVITATION.—The lead agency shall iden12 tify, as early as practicable in the environmental re13 view for a project, any agencies other than an agen14 cy described in paragraph (2) that may have an in15 terest in the project, including, where appropriate, 

16 Governors of affected States, and heads of appro17 priate tribal and local (including county) govern18 ments, and shall invite such identified agencies and 

19 officials to become participating agencies in the envi20 ronmental review for the project. The invitation shall 

21 set a deadline of 30 days for responses to be sub22 mitted, which may only be extended by the lead 

23 agency for good cause shown. Any agency that fails 

24 to respond prior to the deadline shall be deemed to 

25 have declined the invitation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING PARTICIPATING

2 AGENCY INVITATION.—Any agency that declines a 

3 designation or invitation by the lead agency to be a 

4 participating agency shall be precluded from submit5 ting comments on any document prepared under 

6 NEPA for that project or taking any measures to 

7 oppose, based on the environmental review, any per8 mit, license, or approval related to that project. 

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

10 as a participating agency under this subsection does 

11 not imply that the participating agency— 

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

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

14 expertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

15 project. 

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

17 agency may also be designated by a lead agency as 

18 a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations con19 tained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg20 ulations, as in effect on January 1, 2011. Designa21 tion as a cooperating agency shall have no effect on 

22 designation as participating agency. No agency that 

23 is not a participating agency may be designated as 

24 a cooperating agency. 


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

2 agency shall— 

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

4 agency under other applicable law concurrently 

5 and in conjunction with the review required 

6 under NEPA; and 

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

8 the Council on Environmental Quality pursuant 

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

10 rules, policies, and procedures as may be rea11 sonably necessary to enable the agency to en12 sure completion of the environmental review 

13 and environmental decisionmaking process in a 

14 timely, coordinated, and environmentally re15 sponsible manner. 

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

17 shall limit its comments on a project to areas that 

18 are within the authority and expertise of such par19 ticipating agency. Each participating agency shall 

20 identify in such comments the statutory authority of 

21 the participating agency pertaining to the subject 

22 matter of its comments. The lead agency shall not 

23 act upon, respond to or include in any document 

24 prepared under NEPA, any comment submitted by 

25 a participating agency that concerns matters that 


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1 are outside of the authority and expertise of the 

2 commenting participating agency. 

3 ‘‘(f) PROJECT INITIATION REQUEST.— 

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

5 the Federal agency responsible for undertaking a 

6 project with notice of the initiation of the project by 

7 providing a description of the proposed project, the 

8 general location of the proposed project, and a state9 ment of any Federal approvals anticipated to be nec10 essary for the proposed project, for the purpose of 

11 informing the Federal agency that the environmental 

12 review should be initiated. 

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

14 receiving a project initiation notice under paragraph 

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

16 project, and the lead agency shall initiate the envi17 ronmental review within a period of 45 days after 

18 receiving the notice required by paragraph (1) by in19 viting or designating agencies to become partici20 pating agencies, or, where the lead agency deter21 mines that no participating agencies are required for 

22 the project, by taking such other actions that are 

23 reasonable and necessary to initiate the environ24 mental review. 

25 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.— 


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

2 during the environmental review, but no later than 

3 during scoping for a project requiring the prepara4 tion of an environmental impact statement, the lead 

5 agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement 

6 by cooperating agencies in determining the range of 

7 alternatives to be considered for a project. 

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

9 participation under paragraph (1), the lead agency 

10 shall determine the range of alternatives for consid11 eration in any document which the lead agency is re12 sponsible for preparing for the project, subject to the 

13 following limitations: 

14 ‘‘(A) NO EVALUATION OF CERTAIN ALTER15 NATIVES.—No Federal agency shall evaluate 

16 any alternative that was identified but not car17 ried forward for detailed evaluation in an envi18 ronmental document or evaluated and not se19 lected in any environmental document prepared 

20 under NEPA for the same project. 

21 ‘‘(B) ONLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES

22 EVALUATED.—Where a project is being con23 structed, managed, funded, or undertaken by a 

24 project sponsor that is not a Federal agency, 

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1 ate alternatives that the project sponsor could 

2 feasibly undertake, consistent with the purpose 

3 of and the need for the project, including alter4 natives that can be undertaken by the project 

5 sponsor and that are technically and economi6 cally feasible. 

7 ‘‘(3) METHODOLOGIES.— 

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

9 determine, in collaboration with cooperating 

10 agencies at appropriate times during the envi11 ronmental review, the methodologies to be used 

12 and the level of detail required in the analysis 

13 of each alternative for a project. The lead agen14 cy shall include in the environmental document 

15 a description of the methodologies used and 

16 how the methodologies were selected. 

17 ‘‘(B) NO EVALUATION OF INAPPROPRIATE

18 ALTERNATIVES.—When a lead agency deter19 mines that an alternative does not meet the 

20 purpose and need for a project, that alternative 

21 is not required to be evaluated in detail in an 

22 environmental document. 

23 ‘‘(4) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—At the dis24 cretion of the lead agency, the preferred alternative 

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1 oped to a higher level of detail than other alter2 natives in order to facilitate the development of miti3 gation measures or concurrent compliance with other 

4 applicable laws if the lead agency determines that 

5 the development of such higher level of detail will 

6 not prevent the lead agency from making an impar7 tial decision as to whether to accept another alter8 native which is being considered in the environ9 mental review. 

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

11 of each alternative in an environmental impact state12 ment or an environmental assessment shall identify 

13 the potential effects of the alternative on employ14 ment, including potential short-term and long-term 

15 employment increases and reductions and shifts in 

16 employment. 

17 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND SCHEDULING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 

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

20 establish and implement a plan for coordinating 

21 public and agency participation in and comment 

22 on the environmental review for a project or 

23 category of projects to facilitate the expeditious 

24 resolution of the environmental review. 

25 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 

2 shall establish as part of the coordination 

3 plan for a project, after consultation with 

4 each participating agency and, where appli5 cable, the project sponsor, a schedule for 

6 completion of the environmental review. 

7 The schedule shall include deadlines, con8 sistent with subsection (i), for decisions 

9 under any other Federal laws (including 

10 the issuance or denial of a permit or li11 cense) relating to the project that is cov12 ered by the schedule. 

13 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDER14 ATION.—In establishing the schedule, the 

15 lead agency shall consider factors such 

16 as— 

17 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of par18 ticipating agencies under applicable 

19 laws; 

20 ‘‘(II) resources available to the 

21 participating agencies; 

22 ‘‘(III) overall size and complexity 

23 of the project; 

24 ‘‘(IV) overall schedule for and 

25 cost of the project; 


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1 ‘‘(V) the sensitivity of the natural 

2 and historic resources that could be 

3 affected by the project; and 

4 ‘‘(VI) the extent to which similar 

5 projects in geographic proximity were 

6 recently subject to environmental re7 view or similar State procedures. 

8 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHED9 ULE.— 

10 ‘‘(I) All participating agencies 

11 shall comply with the time periods es12 tablished in the schedule or with any 

13 modified time periods, where the lead 

14 agency modifies the schedule pursuant 

15 to subparagraph (D). 

16 ‘‘(II) The lead agency shall dis17 regard and shall not respond to or in18 clude in any document prepared under 

19 NEPA, any comment or information 

20 submitted or any finding made by a 

21 participating agency that is outside of 

22 the time period established in the 

23 schedule or modification pursuant to 

24 subparagraph (D) for that agency’s 

25 comment, submission or finding. 


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1 ‘‘(III) If a participating agency 

2 fails to object in writing to a lead 

3 agency decision, finding or request for 

4 concurrence within the time period es5 tablished under law or by the lead 

6 agency, the agency shall be deemed to 

7 have concurred in the decision, finding 

8 or request. 

9 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER TIME PE10 RIODS.—A schedule under subparagraph (B) 

11 shall be consistent with any other relevant time 

12 periods established under Federal law. 

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

14 may— 

15 ‘‘(i) lengthen a schedule established 

16 under subparagraph (B) for good cause; 

17 and 

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

19 concurrence of the cooperating agencies. 

20 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a sched21 ule under subparagraph (B), and of any modi22 fications to the schedule, shall be— 

23 ‘‘(i) provided within 15 days of com24 pletion or modification of such schedule to 


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1 all participating agencies and to the 

2 project sponsor; and 

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

4 ‘‘(F) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF

5 LEAD AGENCY.—With respect to the environ6 mental review for any project, the lead agency 

7 shall have authority and responsibility to take 

8 such actions as are necessary and proper, with9 in the authority of the lead agency, to facilitate 

10 the expeditious resolution of the environmental 

11 review for the project. 

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

13 apply to any project subject to review under NEPA and 

14 any decision under any Federal law relating to such 

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

16 license or any required finding): 

17 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DEADLINES.— 

18 The lead agency shall complete the environmental 

19 review within the following deadlines: 

20 ‘‘(A) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE21 MENT PROJECTS.—For projects requiring prep22 aration of an environmental impact statement— 

23 ‘‘(i) the lead agency shall issue an en24 vironmental impact statement within 2 

25 years after the earlier of the date the lead 


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1 agency receives the project initiation re2 quest or a Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

3 Environmental Impact Statement is pub4 lished in the Federal Register; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) in circumstances where the lead 

6 agency has prepared an environmental as7 sessment and determined that an environ8 mental impact statement will be required, 

9 the lead agency shall issue the environ10 mental impact statement within 2 years 

11 after the date of publication of the Notice 

12 of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Im13 pact Statement in the Federal Register. 

14 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

15 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

16 of an environmental assessment, the lead agen17 cy shall issue a finding of no significant impact 

18 or publish a Notice of Intent to Prepare an En19 vironmental Impact Statement in the Federal 

20 Register within 1 year after the earlier of the 

21 date the lead agency receives the project initi22 ation request, makes a decision to prepare an 

23 environmental assessment, or sends out partici24 pating agency invitations. 

25 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—The environmental 

2 review deadlines may be extended only if— 

3 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

4 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

5 project sponsor, and all participating agen6 cies; or 

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

8 lead agency for good cause. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The environmental re10 view shall not be extended by more than 1 year 

11 for a project requiring preparation of an envi12 ronmental impact statement or by more than 

13 180 days for a project requiring preparation of 

14 an environmental assessment. 

15 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) COMMENTS ON DRAFT ENVIRON17 MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—For comments 

18 by agencies and the public on a draft environ19 mental impact statement, the lead agency shall 

20 establish a comment period of not more than 60 

21 days after publication in the Federal Register 

22 of notice of the date of public availability of 

23 such document, 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 ‘‘(B) OTHER COMMENTS.—For all other 

6 comment periods for agency or public comments 

7 in the environmental review process, the lead 

8 agency shall establish a comment period of no 

9 more than 30 days from availability of the ma10 terials on which comment is requested, unless— 

11 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

12 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

13 project sponsor, and all participating agen14 cies; or 

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

16 lead agency for good cause. 

17 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER

18 OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

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

20 other Federal law relating to the undertaking of a 

21 project being reviewed under NEPA (including the 

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

23 to be made, the following deadlines shall apply: 

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1 PACT.—If a Federal agency is required to ap2 prove, or otherwise to act upon, a permit, li3 cense, or other similar application for approval 

4 related to a project prior to the record of deci5 sion or finding of no significant impact, such 

6 Federal agency shall approve or otherwise act 

7 not later than the end of a 90-day period begin8 ning— 

9 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re10 view related to the project is complete; and 

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

12 notice of the availability of the final envi13 ronmental impact statement or issuance of 

14 other final environmental documents, or no 

15 later than such other date that is otherwise 

16 required by law, whichever event occurs 

17 first. 

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

19 any approval or other action related to a project 

20 by a Federal agency that is not subject to sub21 paragraph (A), each Federal agency shall ap22 prove or otherwise act not later than the end of 

23 a period of 180 days 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 issues the 

2 record of decision or finding of no signifi3 cant impact, unless a different deadline is 

4 established by agreement of the Federal 

5 agency, lead agency, and the project spon6 sor, where applicable, or the deadline is ex7 tended by the Federal agency for good 

8 cause, provided that such extension shall 

9 not extend beyond a period that is 1 year 

10 after the lead agency issues the record of 

11 decision or finding of no significant im12 pact. 

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

14 any Federal agency fails to approve, or other15 wise to act upon, a permit, license, or other 

16 similar application for approval related to a 

17 project within the applicable deadline described 

18 in subparagraph (A) or (B), the permit, license, 

19 or other similar application shall be deemed ap20 proved by such agency and the agency shall 

21 take action in accordance with such approval 

22 within 30 days of the applicable deadline de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

24 ‘‘(D) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—Any ap25 proval under subparagraph (C) is deemed to be 


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1 final agency action, and may not be reversed by 

2 any agency. In any action under chapter 7 seek3 ing review of such a final agency action, the 

4 court may not set aside such agency action by 

5 reason of that agency action having occurred 

6 under this paragraph. 

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

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

9 participating agencies shall work cooperatively in ac10 cordance with this section to identify and resolve 

11 issues that could delay completion of the environ12 mental review or could result in denial of any ap13 provals required for the project under applicable 

14 laws. 

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

16 lead agency shall make information available to the 

17 participating agencies as early as practicable in the 

18 environmental review regarding the environmental, 

19 historic, and socioeconomic resources located within 

20 the project area and the general locations of the al21 ternatives under consideration. Such information 

22 may be based on existing data sources, including ge23 ographic information systems mapping. 

24 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY RESPONSIBIL25 ITIES.—Based on information received from the lead 


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1 agency, participating agencies shall identify, as early 

2 as practicable, any issues of concern regarding the 

3 project’s potential environmental, historic, or socio4 economic impacts. In this paragraph, issues of con5 cern include any issues that could substantially delay 

6 or prevent an agency from granting a permit or 

7 other approval that is needed for the project. 

8 ‘‘(4) ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) MEETING OF PARTICIPATING AGEN10 CIES.—At any time upon request of a project 

11 sponsor, the lead agency shall promptly convene 

12 a meeting with the relevant participating agen13 cies and the project sponsor, to resolve issues 

14 that could delay completion of the environ15 mental review or could result in denial of any 

16 approvals required for the project under appli17 cable laws. 

18 ‘‘(B) NOTICE THAT RESOLUTION CANNOT

19 BE ACHIEVED.—If a resolution cannot be 

20 achieved within 30 days following such a meet21 ing and a determination by the lead agency that 

22 all information necessary to resolve the issue 

23 has been obtained, the lead agency shall notify 

24 the heads of all participating agencies, the 

25 project sponsor, and the Council on EnvironVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Sep 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H348.RH H348

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1 mental Quality for further proceedings in ac2 cordance with section 204 of NEPA, and shall 

3 publish such notification in the Federal Reg4 ister. 

5 ‘‘(k) LIMITATION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CAR6 BON.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any environ8 mental review or environmental decisionmaking 

9 process, a lead agency may not use the social cost 

10 of carbon. 

11 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

12 ‘social cost of carbon’ means the social cost of car13 bon as described in the technical support document 

14 entitled ‘Technical Support Document: Technical 

15 Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory 

16 Impact Analysis Under Executive Order No. 12866’, 

17 published by the Interagency Working Group on So18 cial Cost of Carbon, United States Government, in 

19 May 2013, revised in November 2013, or any suc20 cessor thereto or substantially related document, or 

21 any other estimate of the monetized damages associ22 ated with an incremental increase in carbon dioxide 

23 emissions in a given year. 

24 ‘‘(l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of each Fed25 eral agency shall report annually to Congress— 


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

2 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

3 environmental assessment; 

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

5 record of decision or finding of no significant impact 

6 and the length of time it took the agency to com7 plete the environmental review for each such project; 

8 ‘‘(3) the filing of any lawsuits against the agen9 cy seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap10 proval issued by the agency for an action subject to 

11 NEPA, including the date the complaint was filed, 

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

13 summary of the claims for which judicial review was 

14 sought; and 

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

16 agency that sought judicial review of a permit, li17 cense, or approval issued by the agency for an action 

18 subject to NEPA. 

19 ‘‘(m) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.— 

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

21 provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 

22 seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap23 proval issued by a Federal agency for an action sub24 ject to NEPA shall be barred unless— 


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

2 a project for which an environmental review 

3 was conducted and an opportunity for comment 

4 was provided, the claim is filed by a party that 

5 submitted a comment during the environmental 

6 review on the issue on which the party seeks ju7 dicial review, and such comment was suffi8 ciently detailed to put the lead agency on notice 

9 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial 

10 review; and 

11 ‘‘(B) filed within 180 days after publica12 tion of a notice in the Federal Register an13 nouncing that the permit, license, or approval is 

14 final pursuant to the law under which the agen15 cy action is taken, unless a shorter time is spec16 ified in the Federal law pursuant to which judi17 cial review is allowed. 

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

19 a supplemental environmental impact statement, 

20 when required, is deemed a separate final agency ac21 tion and the deadline for filing a claim for judicial 

22 review of such action shall be 180 days after the 

23 date of publication of a notice in the Federal Reg24 ister announcing the record of decision for such ac25 tion. Any claim challenging agency action on the 


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1 basis of information in a supplemental environ2 mental impact statement shall be limited to chal3 lenges on the basis of that information. 

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

5 this subsection shall be construed to create a right 

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

7 that a person has violated the terms of a permit, li8 cense, or approval. 

9 ‘‘(n) CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS.—The authorities 

10 granted under this subchapter may be exercised for an in11 dividual project or a category of projects. 

12 ‘‘(o) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

13 subchapter shall apply only to environmental reviews and 

14 environmental decisionmaking processes initiated after the 

15 date of enactment of this subchapter. In the case of a 

16 project for which an environmental review or environ17 mental decisionmaking process was initiated prior to the 

18 date of enactment of this subchapter, the provisions of 

19 subsection (i) shall apply, except that, notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of this section, in determining a dead21 line under such subsection, any applicable period of time 

22 shall be calculated as beginning from the date of enact23 ment of this subchapter. 

24 ‘‘(p) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in sub25 section (p), this subchapter applies, according to the proviVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Sep 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H348.RH H348

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1 sions thereof, to all projects for which a Federal agency 

2 is required to undertake an environmental review or make 

3 a decision under an environmental law for a project for 

4 which a Federal agency is undertaking an environmental 

5 review. 

6 ‘‘(q) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

7 be construed to supersede, amend, or modify sections 134, 

8 135, 139, 325, 326, and 327 of title 23, sections 5303 

9 and 5304 of title 49, or subtitle C of title I of division 

10 A of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century 

11 Act and the amendments made by such subtitle (Public 

12 Law 112–141).’’. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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

15 by inserting after the items relating to subchapter II the 

16 following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING

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

17 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

18 (1) COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.— 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this division, the Council on Environmental Qual21 ity shall amend the regulations contained in part 

22 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to im23 plement the provisions of this division and the 


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1 amendments made by this division, and shall by rule 

2 designate States with laws and procedures that sat3 isfy the criteria under section 560(d)(2)(A) of title 

4 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, 

9 to implement the provisions of this division and the 

10 amendments made by this division, each Federal 

11 agency with regulations implementing the National 

12 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

13 et seq.) shall amend such regulations to implement 

14 the provisions of this division. 


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Union Calendar No. 198 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 348 

[Report No. 114–228, 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 environSEPTEMBER 11, 2015 

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 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS