‘‘(C) allowing for comments and responses 
by and to all necessary agencies in one unified 
portal; 
‘‘(D) generating analytical reports to aid in 
organizing and cataloguing public comments; 
and 
‘‘(E) be accessible on mobile devices; 
‘‘(3) boost transparency in agency processes 
and present information suitable for a lay audience, 
including but not limited to— 
‘‘(A) scientific data and analysis; and 
‘‘(B) 
anticipated 
agency 
process 
and 
timeline; and 
‘‘(4) include examples describing how at least 
five permits would be reviewed and processed 
through this portal. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for the Council 
on Environmental Quality to carry out the study directed 
by this section. 
‘‘SEC. 111. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) CATEGORICAL
EXCLUSION.—The term 
‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 
that a Federal agency has determined normally does
not significantly affect the quality of the human en-
vironment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C). 
‘‘(2) COOPERATING
AGENCY.—The term ‘co-
operating agency’ means any Federal, State, Tribal, 
or local agency that has been designated as a co-
operating agency under section 107(a)(3). 
‘‘(3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 
Council on Environmental Quality established in 
title II. 
‘‘(4) 
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT.—The 
term ‘environmental assessment’ means an environ-
mental 
assessment 
prepared 
under 
section 
106(b)(2). 
‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 
‘environmental document’ means an environmental 
impact statement, an environmental assessment, or 
a finding of no significant impact. 
‘‘(6) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 
The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 
detailed written statement that is required by section 
102(2)(C). 
‘‘(7) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 
The term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 
determination by a Federal agency that a proposed
agency action does not require the issuance of an en-
vironmental impact statement. 
‘‘(8) PARTICIPATING FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 
term ‘participating Federal agency’ means a Federal 
agency participating in an environmental review or 
authorization of an action. 
‘‘(9) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 
means, with respect to a proposed agency action— 
‘‘(A) the agency that proposed such action; 
or 
‘‘(B) if there are 2 or more involved Fed-
eral agencies with respect to such action, the 
agency designated under section 107(a)(1). 
‘‘(10) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed-
eral action’ means an action that the agency 
carrying out such action determines is subject 
to substantial Federal control and responsi-
bility. 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘major Fed-
eral action’ does not include— 
‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 
‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 
funding; or
‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 
involvement where a Federal agency 
cannot control the outcome of the 
project; 
‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 
form of general revenue sharing funds 
which do not provide Federal agency com-
pliance or enforcement responsibility over 
the subsequent use of such funds; 
‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 
forms of financial assistance where a Fed-
eral agency does not exercise sufficient 
control and responsibility over the subse-
quent use of such financial assistance or 
the effect of the action; 
‘‘(iv) business loan guarantees pro-
vided by the Small Business Administra-
tion pursuant to section 7(a) or (b) and of 
the Small Business Act ( U.S.C. 636(a)), 
or title V of the Small Business Invest-
ment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); 
‘‘(v) bringing judicial or administra-
tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 
‘‘(vi) extraterritorial activities or deci-
sions, which means agency activities or de-
cisions with effects located entirely outside 
of the jurisdiction of the United States; or 
‘‘(vii) activities or decisions that are 
non-discretionary and made in accordance 
with the agency’s statutory authority. 
‘‘(11) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU-
MENT.—The term ‘programmatic environmental doc-
ument’ means an environmental impact statement or 
environmental assessment analyzing all or some of 
the environmental effects of a policy, program, plan, 
or group of related actions. 
‘‘(12) PROPOSAL.—The term ‘proposal’ means 
a proposed action at a stage when an agency has a 
goal, is actively preparing to make a decision on one 
or more alternative means of accomplishing that 
goal, and can meaningfully evaluate its effects. 
‘‘(13) SPECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 
expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency 
mission, or related program experience.’’. 
SEC. 322. INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER CAPABILITY DETER-
MINATION STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Electric Reliability Organiza-
tion (as that term is defined in section 215(a)(2) of the 
Federal Power Act), in consultation with each regional en-
tity (as that term is defined in section 215(a)(7) of such
Act) and each transmitting utility (as that term is defined 
in section 3(23) of such Act) that has facilities inter-
connected with a transmitting utility in a neighboring 
transmission planning region, shall conduct a study of 
total 
transfer 
capability 
as 
defined 
in 
section 
37.6(b)(1)(vi) of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, be-
tween transmission planning regions that contains the fol-
lowing: 
(1) Current total transfer capability, between 
each pair of neighboring transmission planning re-
gions. 
(2) A recommendation of prudent additions to 
total transfer capability between each pair of neigh-
boring transmission planning regions that would de-
monstrably strengthen reliability within and among 
such neighboring transmission planning regions. 
(3) Recommendations to meet and maintain 
total transfer capability together with such rec-
ommended prudent additions to total transfer capa-
bility between each pair of neighboring transmission 
planning regions. 
(b) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation shall deliver a study to 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which shall pub-
lish the study required in subsection (a) in the Federal 
Register and seek public comments. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 
end of the public comment period in subsection (b), the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall submit a re-
port on its conclusions to Congress and include rec-
ommendations, if any, for statutory changes. 
SEC. 323. PERMITTING STREAMLINING FOR ENERGY STOR-
AGE. 
Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 
4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘energy storage,’’ 
before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 
SEC. 324. EXPEDITING COMPLETION OF THE MOUNTAIN 
VALLEY PIPELINE. 
(a) DEFINITION OF MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘Mountain Valley Pipeline’’ 
means the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, as generally 
described and approved in Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission Docket Nos. CP16–10, CP19–477, and 
CP21–57. 
(b) CONGRESSIONAL
FINDINGS
AND
DECLARA-
TION.—The Congress hereby finds and declares that the 
timely completion of construction and operation of the 
Mountain Valley Pipeline is required in the national inter-
est. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will serve demonstrated
natural gas demand in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and 
Southeast regions, will increase the reliability of natural 
gas supplies and the availability of natural gas at reason-
able prices, will allow natural gas producers to access addi-
tional markets for their product, and will reduce carbon 
emissions and facilitate the energy transition. 
(c) APPROVAL
AND RATIFICATION
AND MAINTE-
NANCE
OF
EXISTING
AUTHORIZATIONS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law— 
(1) Congress hereby ratifies and approves all 
authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, bio-
logical opinions, incidental take statements, and any 
other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal 
law necessary for the construction and initial oper-
ation at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipe-
line; and 
(2) Congress hereby directs the Secretary of the 
Army, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of 
the Interior, and other agencies as applicable, as the 
case may be, to continue to maintain such authoriza-
tions, permits, verifications, extensions, biological 
opinions, incidental take statements, and any other 
approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law
necessary for the construction and initial operation 
at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. 
(d) EXPEDITED APPROVAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, not later than 21 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act and for the purpose of facili-
tating the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the 
Secretary of the Army shall issue all permits or 
verifications necessary— 
(1) to complete the construction of the Moun-
tain Valley Pipeline across the waters of the United 
States; and 
(2) to allow for the operation and maintenance 
of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. 
(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
no court shall have jurisdiction to review any action 
taken by the Secretary of the Army, the Federal En-
ergy Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Agri-
culture, the Secretary of the Interior, or a State ad-
ministrative agency acting pursuant to Federal law 
that grants an authorization, permit, verification, bi-
ological opinion, incidental take statement, or any 
other approval necessary for the construction and 
initial operation at full capacity of the Mountain 
Valley Pipeline, including the issuance of any au-
thorization, permit, extension, verification, biological 
opinion, incidental take statement, or other approval 
described in subsection (c) or (d) of this section for 
the Mountain Valley Pipeline, whether issued prior 
to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of 
this section, and including any lawsuit pending in a 
court as of the date of enactment of this section. 
(2) The United States Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit shall have original and 
exclusive jurisdiction over any claim alleging the in-
validity of this section or that an action is beyond 
the scope of authority conferred by this section. 
(f) EFFECT.—This section supersedes any other pro-
vision of law (including any other section of this Act or 
other statute, any regulation, any judicial decision, or any 
agency guidance) that is inconsistent with the issuance of 
any authorization, permit, verification, biological opinion, 
incidental take statement, or other approval for the Moun-
tain Valley Pipeline. 
DIVISION D—INCREASE IN DEBT 
LIMIT 
SEC. 401. TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101(b) of title 31, 
United States Code, shall not apply for the period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending 
on January 1, 2025. 
(b) SPECIAL RULE RELATING
TO OBLIGATIONS 
ISSUED DURING EXTENSION PERIOD.—Effective on Jan-
uary 2, 2025, the limitation in effect under section 
3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, shall be increased 
to the extent that— 
(1) the face amount of obligations issued under 
chapter 31 of such title and the face amount of obli-
gations whose principal and interest are guaranteed 
by the United States Government (except guaran-
teed obligations held by the Secretary of the Treas-
ury) outstanding on January 2, 2025, exceeds 
(2) the face amount of such obligations out-
standing on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) RESTORING CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY OVER 
THE NATIONAL DEBT.— 
(1) EXTENSION LIMITED TO NECESSARY OBLI-
GATIONS.—An obligation shall not be taken into ac-
count under subsection (b)(1) unless the issuance of 
such obligation was necessary to fund a commitment 
incurred pursuant to law by the Federal Government 
that required payment before January 2, 2025. 
(2) PROHIBITION ON CREATION OF CASH RE-
SERVE DURING EXTENSION PERIOD.—The Secretary
100 
of the Treasury shall not issue obligations during 
the period specified in subsection (a) for the purpose 
of increasing the cash balance above normal oper-
ating balances in anticipation of the expiration of 
such period. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 31, 2023. 
Attest: 
Clerk.