I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2515 
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify ambig-
uous provisions, align the Act with relevant case law, reflect modern 
technologies, optimize interagency coordination, and facilitate a more 
efficient, effective, and timely environmental review process. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 14, 2021 
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. 
GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. WESTERMAN, Ms. CHENEY, Ms. GRANGER, 
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. COLE, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. COMER, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of 
Illinois, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. BOST, Mr. 
BABIN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. FULCHER, Mr. BALDERSON, and Mr. 
BUDD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
to clarify ambiguous provisions, align the Act with rel-
evant case law, reflect modern technologies, optimize 
interagency coordination, and facilitate a more efficient, 
effective, and timely environmental review process. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘BUILDER Act of 2021’’ 
or the ‘‘Building United States Infrastructure through 
Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969. 
(a) PARAGRAPH (2) OF SECTION 102.—Section 
102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 
and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 
and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (C)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the provi-
sions of this Act and except as provided by 
other provisions of law,’’ before ‘‘include in 
every’’; 
(B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(i) reasonably foreseeable environmental 
effects with a reasonably close causal relation-
ship to the proposed agency action; 
‘‘(ii) any reasonably foreseeable adverse en-
vironmental effects which cannot be avoided 
should the proposal be implemented; 
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‘‘(iii) a reasonable number of alternatives 
to the proposed agency action that are tech-
nically and economically feasible, are within the 
jurisdiction of the agency, meet the purpose and 
need of the proposed agency action, and, where 
applicable, meet the goals of the applicant; 
‘‘(iv) the relationship between local short- 
term uses of man’s environment and the main-
tenance and enhancement of long-term produc-
tivity; and 
‘‘(v) any irreversible and irretrievable com-
mitments of Federal resources which would be 
involved in the proposed agency action should it 
be implemented.’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘the responsible Federal 
official’’ and inserting ‘‘the head of the lead 
agency’’; 
(4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘Any’’ 
and inserting ‘‘any’’; 
(5) 
by 
redesignating 
subparagraphs 
(D) 
through (I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), re-
spectively; 
(6) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, including 
scientific integrity, of the discussion and analysis in 
an environmental document; 
‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and re-
sources in carrying out this Act;’’; 
(7) in subparagraph (G), as amended, by in-
serting ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this Act,’’ 
before ‘‘study,’’; and 
(8) in subparagraph (H), as amended, by in-
serting ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this Act,’’ 
before ‘‘recognize’’. 
(b) NEW SECTIONS.—Title I of the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 
REVIEW. 
‘‘(a) THRESHOLD DETERMINATIONS.—An agency is 
not required to prepare an environmental document with 
respect to a proposed agency action if— 
‘‘(1) such action is not a final agency action 
within the meaning of such term in chapter 5 of title 
5, United States Code; 
‘‘(2) such proposed agency action is covered by 
a categorical exclusion established by a Federal 
agency; 
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Federal agency to provide notice to the public for 
the basis of such agency’s finding of no significant 
impact. 
‘‘(3) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In making a 
determination under this subsection, an agency— 
‘‘(A) may make use of any reliable data 
source; and 
‘‘(B) is not required to undertake new sci-
entific or technical research. 
‘‘SEC. 107. TIMELY AND UNIFIED FEDERAL REVIEWS. 
‘‘(a) LEAD AGENCY.— 
‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—If there are two or more 
involved Federal agencies, such agencies shall deter-
mine, by letter or memorandum, which agency shall 
be the lead agency based on consideration of the fol-
lowing factors: 
‘‘(A) Magnitude of agency’s involvement. 
‘‘(B) Project approval or disapproval au-
thority. 
‘‘(C) Expertise concerning the action’s en-
vironmental effects. 
‘‘(D) Duration of agency’s involvement. 
‘‘(E) Sequence of agency’s involvement. 
‘‘(2) JOINT LEAD AGENCIES.—In making a de-
termination under paragraph (1), the involved Fed-
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eral agencies may, in addition to a Federal agency, 
appoint such Federal, State, Tribal, or local agencies 
as joint lead agencies as the involved Federal agen-
cies shall determine appropriate. Joint lead agencies 
shall jointly fulfill the role described in paragraph 
(3). 
‘‘(3) ROLE.—A lead agency shall, with respect 
to a proposed agency action— 
‘‘(A) supervise the preparation of an envi-
ronmental document if, with respect to such 
proposed agency action, there is more than one 
involved Federal agency; 
‘‘(B) request the participation of each co-
operating agency; 
‘‘(C) in preparing an environmental docu-
ment, give consideration to any analysis or pro-
posal created by a cooperating agency with ju-
risdiction by law or special expertise; 
‘‘(D) develop a schedule, in consultation 
with each involved cooperating agency and such 
other entities as the lead agency determines ap-
propriate, for completion of any environmental 
review, permit, or authorization required to 
carry out the proposed agency action; 
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‘‘(E) if the lead agency determines that a 
review, permit, or authorization will not be com-
pleted in accordance with the schedule devel-
oped under subparagraph (D), notify the agen-
cy responsible for issuing such review, permit, 
or authorization of the discrepancy and request 
that such agency take such measures as such 
agency determines appropriate to comply with 
such schedule; and 
‘‘(F) meet with a cooperating agency that 
requests such a meeting. 
‘‘(4) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The lead agency 
may, with respect to a proposed agency action, des-
ignate any involved Federal agency or a State, Trib-
al, or local agency as a cooperating agency. A co-
operating agency may, not later than a date speci-
fied by the lead agency, submit comments to the 
lead agency. Such comments shall be limited to mat-
ters relating to the proposed agency action with re-
spect to which such agency has special expertise or 
jurisdiction by law with respect to an environmental 
issue. 
‘‘(5) REQUEST FOR DESIGNATION.—Any Fed-
eral, State, Tribal, or local agency or person that is 
substantially affected by the lack of a designation of 
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a lead agency with respect to a proposed agency ac-
tion under paragraph (1) may submit a written re-
quest for such a designation to an involved Federal 
agency. An agency that receives a request under this 
paragraph shall transmit such request to each in-
volved Federal agency and to the Council. 
‘‘(6) COUNCIL DESIGNATION.— 
‘‘(A) REQUEST.—Not earlier than 45 days 
after the date on which a request is submitted 
under paragraph (5), if no designation has been 
made under paragraph (1), a Federal, State, 
Tribal, or local agency or person that is sub-
stantially affected by the lack of a designation 
of a lead agency may request that the Council 
designate a lead agency. Such request shall con-
sist of— 
‘‘(i) a precise description of the nature 
and extent of the proposed agency action; 
and 
‘‘(ii) a detailed statement with respect 
to each involved Federal agency and each 
factor listed in paragraph (1) regarding 
which agency should serve as lead agency. 
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‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION.—The Council shall 
transmit a request received under subparagraph 
(A) to each involved Federal agency. 
‘‘(C) RESPONSE.—An involved Federal 
agency may, not later than 20 days after the 
date of the submission of a request under sub-
paragraph (A), submit to the Council a re-
sponse to such request. 
‘‘(D) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 40 
days after the date of the submission of a re-
quest under subparagraph (A), the Council 
shall designate the lead agency with respect to 
the relevant proposed agency action. 
‘‘(b) ONE DOCUMENT.—To the extent practicable, if 
there are 2 or more involved Federal agencies with respect 
to a proposed agency action and the lead agency has deter-
mined that section 102(2)(C) requires the issuance of an 
environmental document, such requirement shall be 
deemed satisfied with respect to all involved Federal agen-
cies if the lead agency issues such an environmental docu-
ment. 
‘‘(c) REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—Each notice 
of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
under section 102 shall include a request for public com-
ment on potential alternatives or impacts and on relevant 
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information, studies, or analyses with respect to the pro-
posed agency action. 
‘‘(d) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED.—Each 
environmental impact statement shall include a statement 
of purpose and need that briefly summarizes the under-
lying purpose and need for the proposed agency action. 
‘‘(e) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST.—The cover sheet for 
each environmental impact statement shall include a state-
ment of the estimated total cost of preparing such environ-
mental impact statement, including the costs of agency 
full-time equivalent personnel hours, contractor costs, and 
other direct costs. 
‘‘(f) SPONSOR PREPARATION.—A lead agency may 
allow a project sponsor to prepare an environmental as-
sessment or an environmental impact statement, if such 
agency provides such sponsor with appropriate guidance 
and assists in the preparation. The lead agency shall inde-
pendently evaluate the environmental document and shall 
take responsibility for the contents upon adoption. 
‘‘(g) DEADLINES.— 
‘‘(1) ISSUANCE
OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT 
STATEMENT.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
with respect to a proposed agency action, a lead 
agency shall complete— 
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