I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3730 

To direct the Secretary of the Army to establish a process to expedite 

the consideration of applications submitted by States and municipalities 

for permits in connection with public safety projects, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2013 

Mr. BILIRAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 direct the Secretary of the Army to establish a process 

to expedite the consideration of applications submitted 

by States and municipalities for permits in connection 

with public safety projects, 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 ‘‘Public Infrastructure 

5 Modernization Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF AP2 PLICATIONS TO CONDUCT PUBLIC SAFETY 

3 PROJECTS. 

4 (a) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF PERMITS.— 

5 (1) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of the Army 

6 shall approve or disapprove a covered permit appli7 cation for a public safety project on or before the 

8 last day of the 2-year period beginning on the date 

9 of submission of the application. 

10 (2) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If the Sec11 retary does not approve or disapprove a covered per12 mit application for a public safety project on or be13 fore the last day specified in paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) the application shall be considered 

15 under the expedited process established under 

16 subsection (b); unless 

17 (B) the Governor of the State in which the 

18 project is to be located issues a declaration of 

19 emergency with respect to the project under 

20 subsection (c), in which case the requirements 

21 of subsection (c) shall apply to the application. 

22 (b) EXPEDITED PROCESS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish, by regulation, a process to expedite the consid25 eration of a covered permit application for a public 

26 safety project. 

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1 (2) SPECIFICATIONS FOR EXPEDITED PROC2 ESS.—The expedited process shall provide for the 

3 following: 

4 (A) In complying with the requirements of 

5 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

6 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to the 

7 project, the Secretary shall— 

8 (i) prepare an environmental assess9 ment or an environmental impact state10 ment in accordance with paragraph (3); 

11 (ii) weigh the public safety aspects of 

12 the project as greater than the environ13 mental costs; and 

14 (iii) complete consultation with other 

15 agencies, as necessary, not later than 6 

16 months after the last day specified in sub17 section (a)(1). 

18 (B) In issuing a permit under the expe19 dited process, the Secretary may not require 

20 mitigation costs in an amount that exceeds 20 

21 percent of the total cost of the project. 

22 (C) In issuing a permit under the expe23 dited process, the Secretary may implement 

24 species relocation for the project, as described 

25 in subsection (d). 

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1 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR IMPACT

2 STATEMENT.—In preparing an environmental as3 sessment or an environmental impact statement 

4 under paragraph (2)(A)— 

5 (A) the Secretary shall study, develop, and 

6 describe the proposed action and the alternative 

7 of no action; but 

8 (B) the Secretary is not required to study, 

9 develop, or describe any alternative actions to 

10 the proposed agency action unless the munici11 pality in which is the project is to be located 

12 submits an alternative action. 

13 (4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A person may obtain 

14 judicial review of any determination made for a pub15 lic safety project under the expedited process only in 

16 the United States district court for the judicial dis17 trict in which the project is to be located. 

18 (c) EMERGENCY DECLARATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary has not ap20 proved or disapproved a covered permit application 

21 for a public safety project on or before the last day 

22 specified in subsection (a)(1), the Governor of the 

23 State in which the project is to be located may issue 

24 a declaration of emergency with respect to the 

25 project. 

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1 (2) ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS.—If the 

2 Governor of a State issues a declaration of emer3 gency with respect to a public safety project under 

4 paragraph (1), the State or municipality that sub5 mitted a covered permit application for the project 

6 may request that— 

7 (A) the application be considered under the 

8 expedited process established under subsection 

9 (b); or 

10 (B) the President, acting through the 

11 Council on Environmental Quality, establish al12 ternative arrangements for conducting the 

13 project. 

14 (3) DEADLINE.—Pursuant to a request received 

15 under paragraph (2)(B), the Council on Environ16 mental Quality, on or before the last day of the 90- 

17 day period beginning on the date of the request 

18 shall— 

19 (A) create an alternative to the proposed 

20 public safety project; or 

21 (B) approve the project. 

22 (4) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If, after re23 ceiving a request under paragraph (2)(B), the Coun24 cil on Environmental Quality does not establish al25 ternate procedures for conducting a public safety 

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1 project or disapprove the project on or before the 

2 last day specified in paragraph (3)— 

3 (A) the covered permit application sub4 mitted for the project shall be deemed ap5 proved; and 

6 (B) the requirements of the National Envi7 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

8 et seq.) relating to the project shall be deemed 

9 satisfied. 

10 (5) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The deemed approval 

11 of a covered permit application pursuant to para12 graph (4)(A) shall not be subject to judicial review. 

13 (6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Any al14 ternative arrangements established for a public safe15 ty project under paragraph (2)— 

16 (A) shall be deemed to satisfy the require17 ments of section 404 of the Federal Water Pol18 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) and the 

19 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

20 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to the project; 

21 and 

22 (B) shall not be subject to judicial review. 

23 (d) SPECIES RELOCATIONS.—In the case of a covered 

24 permit application for a public safety project that author25 izes species relocation pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(C), 

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1 the Secretary, acting through the United States Fish and 

2 Wildlife Service, any Federal land management agency, 

3 the National Marine Fisheries Service, or a State con4 servation agency, shall relocate from the project any the 

5 members of a threatened or endangered species of plant 

6 or animal that the relevant Federal agencies determine 

7 would be taken in the course of the project. 

8 (e) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to a 

9 covered permit application for a public safety project sub10 mitted after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

13 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

14 on the implementation of this section. 

15 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi16 nitions apply: 

17 (1) COVERED PERMIT APPLICATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘covered permit application’’ means an application 

19 for a permit to discharge dredge or fill material sub20 mitted by a State or municipality under section 404 

21 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

22 U.S.C. 1344). 

23 (2) MUNICIPALITY.—The term ‘‘municipality’’ 

24 has the meaning given that term in section 502 of 

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1 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

2 1362). 

3 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

4 meaning given that term in section 502 of the Fed5 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362). 

6 (4) PUBLIC SAFETY PROJECT.—The term ‘‘pub7 lic safety project’’ means a project that has one of 

8 the following as its primary purpose: 

9 (A) The construction of a levee, self-closing 

10 flood barrier, seawall, or flood gate. 

11 (B) Slough and stream construction and 

12 dredging for flood control. 

13 (C) The construction of a retention pond 

14 for a residential area. 

15 (D) The construction of a road or bridge 

16 to be used for evacuation purposes in the case 

17 of a hurricane, wildfire, or other extreme weath18 er event. 

19 (E) The construction of a storm water con20 veyance facility. 

Æ 

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