Common Sense Permitting Act

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to clarify the authorized categorical exclusions and authorize additional categorical exclusions to streamline the oil and gas permitting process, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Common Sense Permitting Act 2. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, ( 42 U.S.C. 15942 390. NEPA review (a) NEPA review Action by the Secretary of the Interior in managing the public lands, or the Secretary of Agriculture in managing National Forest System Lands, with respect to any of the activities described in subsection (d) shall be categorically excluded from any further analysis and documentation under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 30 U.S.C. 181 (b) Categorical exclusion Use of a categorical exclusion created in this section— (1) shall not require a finding of no extraordinary circumstances; and (2) shall be effective for the full term of the authorized permit or approval. (c) Application This section shall not apply to an action of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. (d) Activities described The activities referred to in subsection (a) are: (1) Reinstating a lease pursuant to section 31 of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 188 (2) The following activities, provided that any new surface disturbance is contiguous with the footprint of the original authorization and does not exceed 20 acres or the acreage evaluated in a document previously prepared under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) (A) Drilling oil or gas wells at a well pad site at which drilling has occurred previously. (B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas well pad site to accommodate additional wells. (C) Expansion or modification of an existing oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, facilities, or utilities submitted in a sundry notice. (3) Drilling of oil and gas wells at new well pad sites, provided that the new surface disturbance does not exceed 20 acres or the acreage evaluated in a document previously prepared under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) (4) Construction or realignment of a road, pipeline, or utilities within an existing right-of-way or within a right-of-way corridor established in a land use plan. (5) The following activities when conducted from non-Federal surface into federally owned minerals, provided that the operator submits to the Secretary concerned certification of a surface use agreement with the non-Federal landowner: (A) Drilling oil or gas wells at a well pad site at which drilling has occurred previously. (B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas well pad site to accommodate additional wells. (C) Expansion or modification of an existing oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, facilities or utilities submitted in a sundry notice. (6) Drilling of oil or gas wells from non-Federal surface and non-Federal subsurface into Federal mineral estate. (7) Construction of up to 1 mile of new road on Federal or non-Federal surface, not to exceed 2 miles in total. (8) Construction of up to 3 miles of individual pipelines or utilities, regardless of surface ownership. . September 20, 2018 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

Summary: Common Sense Permitting Act This bill revises the approval process for certain oil and gas activities by requiring additional categorical exclusions from National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)requirements. (A categorical exclusion under NEPA is a category of actions that do not have a significant effect on the human environment and for which neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.)