I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 348 

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 

A BILL 

To provide for improved coordination of agency actions in 

the preparation and adoption of environmental documents for permitting determinations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsibly And Pro5 fessionally Invigorating Development Act of 2015’’ or as 

6 the ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 


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

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

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

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY 

7 COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING 

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

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

11 The purpose of this subchapter is to establish a framework 

12 and procedures to streamline, increase the efficiency of, 

13 and enhance coordination of agency administration of the 

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

17 agencies administer the regulatory process in a manner 

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

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

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

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

24 government; 

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

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1 mental impacts, geographic location, or another 

2 similar project feature or characteristic; 

3 ‘‘(3) ‘environmental assessment’ means a con4 cise public document for which a Federal agency is 

5 responsible that serves to— 

6 ‘‘(A) briefly provide sufficient evidence and 

7 analysis for determining whether to prepare an 

8 environmental impact statement or a finding of 

9 no significant impact; 

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

11 NEPA when no environmental impact state12 ment is necessary; and 

13 ‘‘(C) facilitate preparation of an environ14 mental impact statement when one is necessary; 

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

16 the detailed statement of significant environmental 

17 impacts required to be prepared under NEPA; 

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

19 agency procedures for preparing an environmental 

20 impact statement, environmental assessment, cat21 egorical exclusion, or other document under NEPA; 

22 ‘‘(6) ‘environmental decisionmaking process’ 

23 means the Federal agency procedures for under24 taking and completion of any environmental permit, 

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1 eral law other than NEPA for a project subject to 

2 an environmental review; 

3 ‘‘(7) ‘environmental document’ means an envi4 ronmental assessment or environmental impact 

5 statement, and includes any supplemental document 

6 or document prepared pursuant to a court order; 

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

8 document by a Federal agency briefly presenting the 

9 reasons why a project, not otherwise subject to a 

10 categorical exclusion, will not have a significant ef11 fect on the human environment and for which an en12 vironmental impact statement therefore will not be 

13 prepared; 

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

15 preparing or responsible for preparing the environ16 mental document; 

17 ‘‘(10) ‘NEPA’ means the National Environ18 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

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

20 that are construction activities undertaken with Fed21 eral funds or that are construction activities that re22 quire approval by a permit or regulatory decision 

23 issued by a Federal agency; 

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

25 other entity, including any private or public-private 


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

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

4 prepared by a lead agency under NEPA following an 

5 environmental impact statement that states the lead 

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

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

11 not adopted. 

12 ‘‘(c) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU13 MENTS.—Upon the request of the lead agency, the project 

14 sponsor shall be authorized to prepare any document for 

15 purposes of an environmental review required in support 

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

17 agency furnishes oversight in such preparation and inde18 pendently evaluates such document and the document is 

19 approved and adopted by the lead agency prior to taking 

20 any action or making any approval based on such docu21 ment. 

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

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

24 ‘‘(A) Not more than 1 environmental im25 pact statement and 1 environmental assessment 


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1 shall be prepared under NEPA for a project 

2 (except for supplemental environmental docu3 ments prepared under NEPA or environmental 

4 documents prepared pursuant to a court order), 

5 and, except as otherwise provided by law, the 

6 lead agency shall prepare the environmental im7 pact statement or environmental assessment. 

8 After the lead agency issues a record of deci9 sion, no Federal agency responsible for making 

10 any approval for that project may rely on a doc11 ument other than the environmental document 

12 prepared by the lead agency. 

13 ‘‘(B) Upon the request of a project spon14 sor, a lead agency may adopt, use, or rely upon 

15 secondary and cumulative impact analyses in16 cluded in any environmental document prepared 

17 under NEPA for projects in the same geo18 graphic area where the secondary and cumu19 lative impact analyses provide information and 

20 data that pertains to the NEPA decision for the 

21 project under review. 

22 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; 

23 SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) Upon the request of a project spon25 sor, a lead agency may adopt a document that 


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1 has been prepared for a project under State 

2 laws and procedures as the environmental im3 pact statement or environmental assessment for 

4 the project, provided that the State laws and 

5 procedures under which the document was pre6 pared provide environmental protection and op7 portunities for public involvement that are sub8 stantially equivalent to NEPA. 

9 ‘‘(B) An environmental document adopted 

10 under subparagraph (A) is deemed to satisfy 

11 the lead agency’s obligation under NEPA to 

12 prepare an environmental impact statement or 

13 environmental assessment. 

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

15 in subparagraph (A), during the period after 

16 preparation of the document but before its 

17 adoption by the lead agency, the lead agency 

18 shall prepare and publish a supplement to that 

19 document if the lead agency determines that— 

20 ‘‘(i) a significant change has been 

21 made to the project that is relevant for 

22 purposes of environmental review of the 

23 project; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) there have been significant 

25 changes in circumstances or availability of 


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1 information relevant to the environmental 

2 review for the project. 

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

4 a supplemental document under subparagraph 

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

6 agencies and the public on the supplemental 

7 document for a period of not more than 45 

8 days beginning on the date of the publication of 

9 the supplement. 

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

11 decision or finding of no significant impact, as 

12 appropriate, based upon the document adopted 

13 under subparagraph (A), and any supplements 

14 thereto. 

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

16 lead agency determines that there is a reasonable 

17 likelihood that the project will have similar environ18 mental impacts as a similar project in geographical 

19 proximity to the project, and that similar project 

20 was subject to environmental review or similar State 

21 procedures within the 5-year period immediately pre22 ceding the date that the lead agency makes that de23 termination, the lead agency may adopt the environ24 mental document that resulted from that environ25 mental review or similar State procedure. The lead 


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1 agency may adopt such an environmental document, 

2 if it is prepared under State laws and procedures 

3 only upon making a favorable determination on such 

4 environmental document pursuant to paragraph 

5 (2)(A). 

6 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

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

8 responsible for inviting and designating participating 

9 agencies in accordance with this subsection. The 

10 lead agency shall provide the invitation or notice of 

11 the designation in writing. 

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

13 Federal agency that is required to adopt the envi14 ronmental document of the lead agency for a project 

15 shall be designated as a participating agency and 

16 shall collaborate on the preparation of the environ17 mental document, unless the Federal agency informs 

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

19 the lead agency in the designation of the Federal 

20 agency that the Federal agency— 

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

22 respect to the project; 

23 ‘‘(B) has no expertise or information rel24 evant to the project; and 


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

2 on the project. 

3 ‘‘(3) INVITATION.—The lead agency shall iden4 tify, as early as practicable in the environmental re5 view for a project, any agencies other than an agen6 cy described in paragraph (2) that may have an in7 terest in the project, including, where appropriate, 

8 Governors of affected States, and heads of appro9 priate tribal and local (including county) govern10 ments, and shall invite such identified agencies and 

11 officials to become participating agencies in the envi12 ronmental review for the project. The invitation shall 

13 set a deadline of 30 days for responses to be sub14 mitted, which may only be extended by the lead 

15 agency for good cause shown. Any agency that fails 

16 to respond prior to the deadline shall be deemed to 

17 have declined the invitation. 

18 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING PARTICIPATING

19 AGENCY INVITATION.—Any agency that declines a 

20 designation or invitation by the lead agency to be a 

21 participating agency shall be precluded from submit22 ting comments on any document prepared under 

23 NEPA for that project or taking any measures to 

24 oppose, based on the environmental review, any per25 mit, license, or approval related to that project. 


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

2 as a participating agency under this subsection does 

3 not imply that the participating agency— 

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

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

6 expertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

7 project. 

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

9 agency may also be designated by a lead agency as 

10 a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations con11 tained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg12 ulations, as in effect on January 1, 2011. Designa13 tion as a cooperating agency shall have no effect on 

14 designation as participating agency. No agency that 

15 is not a participating agency may be designated as 

16 a cooperating agency. 

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

18 agency shall— 

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

20 agency under other applicable law concurrently 

21 and in conjunction with the review required 

22 under NEPA; and 

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

24 the Council on Environmental Quality pursuant 

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


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1 rules, policies, and procedures as may be rea2 sonably necessary to enable the agency to en3 sure completion of the environmental review 

4 and environmental decisionmaking process in a 

5 timely, coordinated, and environmentally re6 sponsible manner. 

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

8 shall limit its comments on a project to areas that 

9 are within the authority and expertise of such par10 ticipating agency. Each participating agency shall 

11 identify in such comments the statutory authority of 

12 the participating agency pertaining to the subject 

13 matter of its comments. The lead agency shall not 

14 act upon, respond to or include in any document 

15 prepared under NEPA, any comment submitted by 

16 a participating agency that concerns matters that 

17 are outside of the authority and expertise of the 

18 commenting participating agency. 

19 ‘‘(f) PROJECT INITIATION REQUEST.— 

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

21 the Federal agency responsible for undertaking a 

22 project with notice of the initiation of the project by 

23 providing a description of the proposed project, the 

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1 essary for the proposed project, for the purpose of 

2 informing the Federal agency that the environmental 

3 review should be initiated. 

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

5 receiving a project initiation notice under paragraph 

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

7 project, and the lead agency shall initiate the envi8 ronmental review within a period of 45 days after 

9 receiving the notice required by paragraph (1) by in10 viting or designating agencies to become partici11 pating agencies, or, where the lead agency deter12 mines that no participating agencies are required for 

13 the project, by taking such other actions that are 

14 reasonable and necessary to initiate the environ15 mental review. 

16 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.— 

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

18 during the environmental review, but no later than 

19 during scoping for a project requiring the prepara20 tion of an environmental impact statement, the lead 

21 agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement 

22 by cooperating agencies in determining the range of 

23 alternatives to be considered for a project. 

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

25 participation under paragraph (1), the lead agency 


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1 shall determine the range of alternatives for consid2 eration in any document which the lead agency is re3 sponsible for preparing for the project, subject to the 

4 following limitations: 

5 ‘‘(A) NO EVALUATION OF CERTAIN ALTER6 NATIVES.—No Federal agency shall evaluate 

7 any alternative that was identified but not car8 ried forward for detailed evaluation in an envi9 ronmental document or evaluated and not se10 lected in any environmental document prepared 

11 under NEPA for the same project. 

12 ‘‘(B) ONLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES

13 EVALUATED.—Where a project is being con14 structed, managed, funded, or undertaken by a 

15 project sponsor that is not a Federal agency, 

16 Federal agencies shall only be required to evalu17 ate alternatives that the project sponsor could 

18 feasibly undertake, consistent with the purpose 

19 of and the need for the project, including alter20 natives that can be undertaken by the project 

21 sponsor and that are technically and economi22 cally feasible. 

23 ‘‘(3) METHODOLOGIES.— 

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

25 determine, in collaboration with cooperating 


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1 agencies at appropriate times during the envi2 ronmental review, the methodologies to be used 

3 and the level of detail required in the analysis 

4 of each alternative for a project. The lead agen5 cy shall include in the environmental document 

6 a description of the methodologies used and 

7 how the methodologies were selected. 

8 ‘‘(B) NO EVALUATION OF INAPPROPRIATE

9 ALTERNATIVES.—When a lead agency deter10 mines that an alternative does not meet the 

11 purpose and need for a project, that alternative 

12 is not required to be evaluated in detail in an 

13 environmental document. 

14 ‘‘(4) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—At the dis15 cretion of the lead agency, the preferred alternative 

16 for a project, after being identified, may be devel17 oped to a higher level of detail than other alter18 natives in order to facilitate the development of miti19 gation measures or concurrent compliance with other 

20 applicable laws if the lead agency determines that 

21 the development of such higher level of detail will 

22 not prevent the lead agency from making an impar23 tial decision as to whether to accept another alter24 native which is being considered in the environ25 mental review. 


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

2 of each alternative in an environmental impact state3 ment or an environmental assessment shall identify 

4 the potential effects of the alternative on employ5 ment, including potential short-term and long-term 

6 employment increases and reductions and shifts in 

7 employment. 

8 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND SCHEDULING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 

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

11 establish and implement a plan for coordinating 

12 public and agency participation in and comment 

13 on the environmental review for a project or 

14 category of projects to facilitate the expeditious 

15 resolution of the environmental review. 

16 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 

18 shall establish as part of the coordination 

19 plan for a project, after consultation with 

20 each participating agency and, where appli21 cable, the project sponsor, a schedule for 

22 completion of the environmental review. 

23 The schedule shall include deadlines, con24 sistent with subsection (i), for decisions 

25 under any other Federal laws (including 


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1 the issuance or denial of a permit or li2 cense) relating to the project that is cov3 ered by the schedule. 

4 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDER5 ATION.—In establishing the schedule, the 

6 lead agency shall consider factors such 

7 as— 

8 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of par9 ticipating agencies under applicable 

10 laws; 

11 ‘‘(II) resources available to the 

12 participating agencies; 

13 ‘‘(III) overall size and complexity 

14 of the project; 

15 ‘‘(IV) overall schedule for and 

16 cost of the project; 

17 ‘‘(V) the sensitivity of the natural 

18 and historic resources that could be 

19 affected by the project; and 

20 ‘‘(VI) the extent to which similar 

21 projects in geographic proximity were 

22 recently subject to environmental re23 view or similar State procedures. 

24 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHED25 ULE.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) All participating agencies 

2 shall comply with the time periods es3 tablished in the schedule or with any 

4 modified time periods, where the lead 

5 agency modifies the schedule pursuant 

6 to subparagraph (D). 

7 ‘‘(II) The lead agency shall dis8 regard and shall not respond to or in9 clude in any document prepared under 

10 NEPA, any comment or information 

11 submitted or any finding made by a 

12 participating agency that is outside of 

13 the time period established in the 

14 schedule or modification pursuant to 

15 subparagraph (D) for that agency’s 

16 comment, submission or finding. 

17 ‘‘(III) If a participating agency 

18 fails to object in writing to a lead 

19 agency decision, finding or request for 

20 concurrence within the time period es21 tablished under law or by the lead 

22 agency, the agency shall be deemed to 

23 have concurred in the decision, finding 

24 or request. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER TIME PE2 RIODS.—A schedule under subparagraph (B) 

3 shall be consistent with any other relevant time 

4 periods established under Federal law. 

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

6 may— 

7 ‘‘(i) lengthen a schedule established 

8 under subparagraph (B) for good cause; 

9 and 

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

11 concurrence of the cooperating agencies. 

12 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a sched13 ule under subparagraph (B), and of any modi14 fications to the schedule, shall be— 

15 ‘‘(i) provided within 15 days of com16 pletion or modification of such schedule to 

17 all participating agencies and to the 

18 project sponsor; and 

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

20 ‘‘(F) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF

21 LEAD AGENCY.—With respect to the environ22 mental review for any project, the lead agency 

23 shall have authority and responsibility to take 

24 such actions as are necessary and proper, with25 in the authority of the lead agency, to facilitate 


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1 the expeditious resolution of the environmental 

2 review for the project. 

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

4 apply to any project subject to review under NEPA and 

5 any decision under any Federal law relating to such 

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

7 license or any required finding): 

8 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DEADLINES.— 

9 The lead agency shall complete the environmental 

10 review within the following deadlines: 

11 ‘‘(A) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE12 MENT PROJECTS.—For projects requiring prep13 aration of an environmental impact statement— 

14 ‘‘(i) the lead agency shall issue an en15 vironmental impact statement within 2 

16 years after the earlier of the date the lead 

17 agency receives the project initiation re18 quest or a Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

19 Environmental Impact Statement is pub20 lished in the Federal Register; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in circumstances where the lead 

22 agency has prepared an environmental as23 sessment and determined that an environ24 mental impact statement will be required, 

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1 mental impact statement within 2 years 

2 after the date of publication of the Notice 

3 of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Im4 pact Statement in the Federal Register. 

5 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

6 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

7 of an environmental assessment, the lead agen8 cy shall issue a finding of no significant impact 

9 or publish a Notice of Intent to Prepare an En10 vironmental Impact Statement in the Federal 

11 Register within 1 year after the earlier of the 

12 date the lead agency receives the project initi13 ation request, makes a decision to prepare an 

14 environmental assessment, or sends out partici15 pating agency invitations. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—The environmental 

18 review deadlines may be extended only if— 

19 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

20 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

21 project sponsor, and all participating agen22 cies; 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 ENVIRON9 MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—For comments 

10 by agencies and the public on a draft environ11 mental impact statement, the lead agency shall 

12 establish a comment period of not more than 60 

13 days after publication in the Federal Register 

14 of notice of the date of public availability of 

15 such document, unless— 

16 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

17 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

18 project sponsor, and all participating agen19 cies; or 

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

21 lead agency for good cause. 

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

23 comment periods for agency or public comments 

24 in the environmental review process, the lead 

25 agency shall establish a comment period of no 


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1 more than 30 days from availability of the ma2 terials on which comment is requested, unless— 

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 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER

10 OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

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

12 other Federal law relating to the undertaking of a 

13 project being reviewed under NEPA (including the 

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

15 to be made, the following deadlines shall apply: 

16 ‘‘(A) DECISIONS PRIOR TO RECORD OF DE17 CISION OR FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IM18 PACT.—If a Federal agency is required to ap19 prove, or otherwise to act upon, a permit, li20 cense, or other similar application for approval 

21 related to a project prior to the record of deci22 sion or finding of no significant impact, such 

23 Federal agency shall approve or otherwise act 

24 not later than the end of a 90-day period begin25 ning— 


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1 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re2 view related to the project is complete; and 

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

4 notice of the availability of the final envi5 ronmental impact statement or issuance of 

6 other final environmental documents, or no 

7 later than such other date that is otherwise 

8 required by law, whichever event occurs 

9 first. 

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

11 any approval or other action related to a project 

12 by a Federal agency that is not subject to sub13 paragraph (A), each Federal agency shall ap14 prove or otherwise act not later than the end of 

15 a period of 180 days beginning— 

16 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re17 view related to the project is complete; and 

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

19 record of decision or finding of no signifi20 cant impact, unless a different deadline is 

21 established by agreement of the Federal 

22 agency, lead agency, and the project spon23 sor, where applicable, or the deadline is ex24 tended by the Federal agency for good 

25 cause, provided that such extension shall 


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1 not extend beyond a period that is 1 year 

2 after the lead agency issues the record of 

3 decision or finding of no significant im4 pact. 

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

6 any Federal agency fails to approve, or other7 wise to act upon, a permit, license, or other 

8 similar application for approval related to a 

9 project within the applicable deadline described 

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

11 or other similar application shall be deemed ap12 proved by such agency and the agency shall 

13 take action in accordance with such approval 

14 within 30 days of the applicable deadline de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

16 ‘‘(D) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—Any ap17 proval under subparagraph (C) is deemed to be 

18 final agency action, and may not be reversed by 

19 any agency. In any action under chapter 7 seek20 ing review of such a final agency action, the 

21 court may not set aside such agency action by 

22 reason of that agency action having occurred 

23 under this paragraph. 

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


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

2 participating agencies shall work cooperatively in ac3 cordance with this section to identify and resolve 

4 issues that could delay completion of the environ5 mental review or could result in denial of any ap6 provals required for the project under applicable 

7 laws. 

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

9 lead agency shall make information available to the 

10 participating agencies as early as practicable in the 

11 environmental review regarding the environmental, 

12 historic, and socioeconomic resources located within 

13 the project area and the general locations of the al14 ternatives under consideration. Such information 

15 may be based on existing data sources, including ge16 ographic information systems mapping. 

17 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY RESPONSIBIL18 ITIES.—Based on information received from the lead 

19 agency, participating agencies shall identify, as early 

20 as practicable, any issues of concern regarding the 

21 project’s potential environmental, historic, or socio22 economic impacts. In this paragraph, issues of con23 cern include any issues that could substantially delay 

24 or prevent an agency from granting a permit or 

25 other approval that is needed for the project. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) MEETING OF PARTICIPATING AGEN3 CIES.—At any time upon request of a project 

4 sponsor, the lead agency shall promptly convene 

5 a meeting with the relevant participating agen6 cies and the project sponsor, to resolve issues 

7 that could delay completion of the environ8 mental review or could result in denial of any 

9 approvals required for the project under appli10 cable laws. 

11 ‘‘(B) NOTICE THAT RESOLUTION CANNOT

12 BE ACHIEVED.—If a resolution cannot be 

13 achieved within 30 days following such a meet14 ing and a determination by the lead agency that 

15 all information necessary to resolve the issue 

16 has been obtained, the lead agency shall notify 

17 the heads of all participating agencies, the 

18 project sponsor, and the Council on Environ19 mental Quality for further proceedings in ac20 cordance with section 204 of NEPA, and shall 

21 publish such notification in the Federal Reg22 ister. 

23 ‘‘(k) LIMITATION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CAR24 BON.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any environ2 mental review or environmental decisionmaking 

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

4 of carbon. 

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

6 ‘social cost of carbon’ means the social cost of car7 bon as described in the technical support document 

8 entitled ‘Technical Support Document: Technical 

9 Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory 

10 Impact Analysis Under Executive Order No. 12866’, 

11 published by the Interagency Working Group on So12 cial Cost of Carbon, United States Government, in 

13 May 2013, revised in November 2013, or any suc14 cessor thereto or substantially related document, or 

15 any other estimate of the monetized damages associ16 ated with an incremental increase in carbon dioxide 

17 emissions in a given year. 

18 ‘‘(l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of each Fed19 eral agency shall report annually to Congress— 

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

21 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

22 environmental assessment; 

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

24 record of decision or finding of no significant impact 


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1 and the length of time it took the agency to com2 plete the environmental review for each such project; 

3 ‘‘(3) the filing of any lawsuits against the agen4 cy seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap5 proval issued by the agency for an action subject to 

6 NEPA, including the date the complaint was filed, 

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

8 summary of the claims for which judicial review was 

9 sought; and 

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

11 agency that sought judicial review of a permit, li12 cense, or approval issued by the agency for an action 

13 subject to NEPA. 

14 ‘‘(m) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.— 

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

16 provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 

17 seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap18 proval issued by a Federal agency for an action sub19 ject to NEPA shall be barred unless— 

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

21 a project for which an environmental review 

22 was conducted and an opportunity for comment 

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

24 submitted a comment during the environmental 

25 review on the issue on which the party seeks juVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 Jan 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H348.IH H348

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1 dicial review, and such comment was suffi2 ciently detailed to put the lead agency on notice 

3 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial 

4 review; and 

5 ‘‘(B) filed within 180 days after publica6 tion of a notice in the Federal Register an7 nouncing that the permit, license, or approval is 

8 final pursuant to the law under which the agen9 cy action is taken, unless a shorter time is spec10 ified in the Federal law pursuant to which judi11 cial review is allowed. 

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

13 a supplemental environmental impact statement, 

14 when required, is deemed a separate final agency ac15 tion and the deadline for filing a claim for judicial 

16 review of such action shall be 180 days after the 

17 date of publication of a notice in the Federal Reg18 ister announcing the record of decision for such ac19 tion. Any claim challenging agency action on the 

20 basis of information in a supplemental environ21 mental impact statement shall be limited to chal22 lenges on the basis of that information. 

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

24 this subsection shall be construed to create a right 

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


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1 that a person has violated the terms of a permit, li2 cense, or approval. 

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

4 granted under this subchapter may be exercised for an in5 dividual project or a category of projects. 

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

7 subchapter shall apply only to environmental reviews and 

8 environmental decisionmaking processes initiated after the 

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

10 project for which an environmental review or environ11 mental decisionmaking process was initiated prior to the 

12 date of enactment of this subchapter, the provisions of 

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

14 any other provision of this section, in determining a dead15 line under such subsection, any applicable period of time 

16 shall be calculated as beginning from the date of enact17 ment of this subchapter. 

18 ‘‘(p) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in sub19 section (p), this subchapter applies, according to the provi20 sions thereof, to all projects for which a Federal agency 

21 is required to undertake an environmental review or make 

22 a decision under an environmental law for a project for 

23 which a Federal agency is undertaking an environmental 

24 review. 


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

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

3 135, 139, 325, 326, and 327 of title 23, sections 5303 

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

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

6 Act and the amendments made by such subtitle (Public 

7 Law 112–141).’’. 

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

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

10 by inserting after the items relating to subchapter II the 

11 following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING

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

12 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

13 (1) COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.— 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

15 of this division, the Council on Environmental Qual16 ity shall amend the regulations contained in part 

17 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to im18 plement the provisions of this division and the 

19 amendments made by this division, and shall by rule 

20 designate States with laws and procedures that sat21 isfy the criteria under section 560(d)(2)(A) of title 

22 5, United States Code. 


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

2 days after the date that the Council on Environ3 mental Quality amends the regulations contained in 

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

5 to implement the provisions of this division and the 

6 amendments made by this division, each Federal 

7 agency with regulations implementing the National 

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

9 et seq.) shall amend such regulations to implement 

10 the provisions of this division. 

Æ 


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