II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3230 

To prohibit the use of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to 

document, predict, or mitigate the climate effects of specific Federal actions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2010 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. VITTER, Mr. ENZI, Mr. RISCH, 

Mr. BENNETT, and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 to document, predict, or mitigate the climate 

effects of specific Federal actions. 

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 ‘‘NEPA Certainty Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

7 (1) using the National Environmental Policy 

8 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as a climate 

9 change mitigation tool would be costly and result in 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3230 IS

1 fewer jobs and slower economic growth, since use of 

2 that Act for that purpose could cause delays in en3 ergy, transportation, and other construction-related 

4 projects; 

5 (2) assuming that the anthropogenic contribu6 tion to climate change is significant and may lead to 

7 serious environmental harm, using the National En8 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

9 seq.) as a mitigation tool would prove environ10 mentally ineffective in addressing climate change; 

11 (3) the purpose of the National Environmental 

12 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is to 

13 ensure that a Federal agency will carefully consider 

14 detailed information concerning significant environ15 mental impacts and make the relevant information 

16 available to the public; 

17 (4) isolating the specific causes of various cli18 matic changes is exceedingly difficult, if not impos19 sible, to achieve; and 

20 (5) in February 2010, the Council on Environ21 mental Quality stated that— 

22 (A) ‘‘it is not currently useful for the 

23 NEPA analysis to attempt to link specific cli24 matological changes, or the environmental im25 pacts thereof, to the particular project or emisVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:14 Apr 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3230.IS S3230

jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3230 IS

1 sions, as such direct linkage is difficult to iso2 late and to understand.’’; 

3 (B) ‘‘From a quantitative perspective, 

4 there are no dominating sources and fewer 

5 sources that would even be close to dominating 

6 total [greenhouse gas] emissions.’’; and 

7 (C) ‘‘agencies should recognize the sci8 entific limits of their ability to accurately pre9 dict climate change effects, especially of a 

10 short-term nature’’. 

11 (b) DECLARATION.—Congress declares that the Na12 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

13 et seq.) should not be used to document, predict, or miti14 gate the climate effects of specific Federal actions. 

15 SEC. 3. USE OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT 

16 OF 1969 FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi18 sion of law, compliance with the National Environmental 

19 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not in20 clude consideration of— 

21 (1) the greenhouse gas emissions, or any cli22 mate change effects of those emissions, of a pro23 posed action and alternative actions; or 

24 (2) the relationship of climate change effects to 

25 a proposed action or alternatives, including the relaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:14 Apr 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3230.IS S3230

jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3230 IS

1 tionship to proposal design, environmental impacts, 

2 mitigation, and adaptation measures. 

3 (b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section pre4 empts or interferes with— 

5 (1) any authority to consider the climate 

6 change effects of proposed legislation or regulations 

7 specifically addressing greenhouse gas emissions; or 

8 (2) any requirement to consider the potential 

9 effects of climate change on proposals for agency ac10 tion during planning or design processes under pro11 visions of law other than the National Environ12 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

Æ 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS