I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6129 

To require the Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report 

on environmental reviews and causes of action based on compliance 

with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. YAKYM (for himself and Mr. PANETTA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Council on Environmental Quality to publish 

an annual report on environmental reviews and causes 

of action based on compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 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. ANNUAL REPORT ON NEPA’S IMPACT ON PROJECTS. 

2 Section 201 of the National Environmental Policy 

3 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4341) is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORT ON NEPA’S IMPACT ON 

6 PROJECTS. 

7 ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Beginning July 1, 2024, 

8 the Council on Environmental Quality shall annually pub9 lish on the website of the Council on Environmental Qual10 ity, and submit to Congress, a report on— 

11 ‘‘(1) each cause of action based on compliance 

12 with this Act filed during the period beginning June 

13 1 of the preceding year and ending June 1 of the 

14 current year, which shall identify— 

15 ‘‘(A) with respect to each such cause of ac16 tion, the lead defendant Federal agency and the 

17 lead plaintiff; 

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

19 disaggregated by the lead defendant Federal 

20 agency; 

21 ‘‘(C) the alleged basis for each such cause 

22 of action, disaggregated by type; and 

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

24 of each cause of action based on compliance 

25 with this Act filed during the period beginning 


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1 June 1 of the preceding year and ending June 

2 1 of the current year, including whether— 

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

4 major Federal action being reversed; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the lead defendant Federal agen6 cy was allowed to move forward with the 

7 major Federal action; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the court issued a ruling direct9 ing the lead defendant Federal agency to 

10 take additional measures to be in compli11 ance; 

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

13 defendant Federal agency settled amongst 

14 themselves; and 

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

16 progress; 

17 ‘‘(2) the length of environmental impact state18 ments prepared pursuant to section 102(2)(C) dur19 ing the period of 5 years that ends on June 1 of the 

20 current year, 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 such period of 5 


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1 years, including such page counts disaggregated 

2 by quartiles; 

3 ‘‘(B) the number of draft and final envi4 ronmental impact statements published in the 

5 Federal Register during such period of 5 years, 

6 disaggregated by lead Federal agency and sub7 agency as applicable; and 

8 ‘‘(C) a description of trends in average and 

9 median page count of draft and final environ10 mental impact statements published in the Fed11 eral Register during such period of 5 years 

12 compared to prior reports published by the 

13 Council on Environmental Quality; and 

14 ‘‘(3) the timelines to complete environmental re15 views pursuant to section 102(2)(C) during the pe16 riod of 10 years that ends on June 1 of the current 

17 year, which shall include— 

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

19 action commenced during such period of 10 

20 years, the date on which (as applicable)— 

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

22 environmental impact statement was pub23 lished in the Federal Register; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the draft environmental impact 

2 statement was published in the Federal 

3 Register; 

4 ‘‘(iii) the final environmental impact 

5 statement was published in the Federal 

6 Register; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) the record of decision was pub8 lished in the Federal Register; 

9 ‘‘(B) the average and median publication 

10 timelines during such period of 10 years for 

11 each document described in subparagraph (A); 

12 and 

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

14 times during such period of 10 years for such 

15 documents compared to prior reports published 

16 by the Council on Environmental Quality. 

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

18 on Environmental Quality shall publish with each report 

19 published under subsection (a) the underlying data used 

20 to prepare each such report.’’. 

Æ 


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