168 
‘‘§ 307. Improving State and Federal agency engage-
ment in environmental reviews 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) REQUESTS TO PROVIDE FUNDS.—A public 
entity receiving financial assistance from the Depart-
ment of Transportation for 1 or more projects, or for 
a program of projects, for a public purpose may re-
quest that the Secretary allow the public entity to 
provide funds to Federal agencies, including the De-
partment, State agencies, and Indian tribes partici-
pating in the environmental planning and review 
process for the project, projects, or program. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds may be pro-
vided only to support activities that directly and 
meaningfully contribute to expediting and improving 
permitting and review processes, including planning, 
approval, and consultation processes for the project, 
projects, or program. 
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING.—Activities 
for which funds may be provided under subsection (a) in-
clude transportation planning activities that precede the 
initiation of the environmental review process, activities di-
rectly related to the environmental review process, dedicated 
staffing, training of agency personnel, information gath-
ering and mapping, and development of programmatic 
agreements. 
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169 
‘‘(c) AMOUNTS.—Requests under subsection (a) may be 
approved only for the additional amounts that the Sec-
retary determines are necessary for the Federal agencies, 
State agencies, or Indian tribes participating in the envi-
ronmental review process to timely conduct their review. 
‘‘(d) AGREEMENTS.—Prior to providing funds ap-
proved by the Secretary for dedicated staffing at an affected 
Federal agency under subsection (a), the affected Federal 
agency and the requesting public entity shall enter into an 
agreement that establishes a process to identify projects or 
priorities to be addressed by the use of the funds. 
‘‘(e) RULEMAKING.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall initiate a rulemaking to implement this 
section. 
‘‘(2) FACTORS.—As part of the rulemaking car-
ried out under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall en-
sure— 
‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, 
that expediting and improving the process of en-
vironmental review and permitting through the 
use of funds accepted and expended under this 
section does not adversely affect the timeline for 
review and permitting by Federal agencies, State 
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170 
agencies, or Indian tribes of other entities that 
have not contributed funds under this section; 
‘‘(B) that the use of funds accepted under 
this section will not impact impartial decision-
making with respect to environmental reviews or 
permits, either substantively or procedurally; 
and 
‘‘(C) that the Secretary maintains, and 
makes publicly available, including on the Inter-
net, a list of projects or programs for which such 
review or permits have been carried out using 
funds authorized under this section. 
‘‘(f) EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section 
may be construed to conflict with section 139(j) of title 23.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
chapter 3 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 306 the following: 
‘‘307. Improving State and Federal agency engagement in environmental re-
views.’’. 
SEC. 1316. ACCELERATED DECISIONMAKING IN ENVIRON-
MENTAL REVIEWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 304 the following: 
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171 
‘‘§ 304a. Accelerated decisionmaking in environmental 
reviews 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In preparing a final environ-
mental impact statement under the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), if the 
lead agency modifies the statement in response to comments 
that are minor and are confined to factual corrections or 
explanations of why the comments do not warrant addi-
tional agency response, the lead agency may write on errata 
sheets attached to the statement, instead of rewriting the 
draft statement, subject to the condition that the errata 
sheets— 
‘‘(1) cite the sources, authorities, and reasons 
that support the position of the agency; and 
‘‘(2) if appropriate, indicate the circumstances 
that would trigger agency reappraisal or further re-
sponse. 
‘‘(b) SINGLE DOCUMENT.—To the maximum extent 
practicable, the lead agency shall expeditiously develop a 
single document that consists of a final environmental im-
pact statement and a record of decision, unless— 
‘‘(1) the final environmental impact statement 
makes substantial changes to the proposed action that 
are relevant to environmental or safety concerns; or 
‘‘(2) there is a significant new circumstance or 
information relevant to environmental concerns that 
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bears on the proposed action or the impacts of the 
proposed action. 
‘‘(c) ADOPTION OF DOCUMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) AVOIDING DUPLICATION.—To prevent dupli-
cation of analyses and support expeditious and effi-
cient decisions, the operating administrations of the 
Department of Transportation shall use adoption and 
incorporation by reference in accordance with this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(2) ADOPTION OF DOCUMENTS OF OTHER OPER-
ATING ADMINISTRATIONS.—An operating administra-
tion or a secretarial office within the Department of 
Transportation may adopt a draft environmental im-
pact statement, an environmental assessment, or a 
final environmental impact statement of another op-
erating administration for the adopting operating ad-
ministration’s use when preparing an environmental 
assessment or final environmental impact statement 
for a project without recirculating the document for 
public review, if— 
‘‘(A) the adopting operating administration 
certifies that its proposed action is substantially 
the same as the project considered in the docu-
ment to be adopted; 
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‘‘(B) the other operating administration 
concurs with such decision; and 
‘‘(C) such actions are consistent with the re-
quirements of the National Environmental Pol-
icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
‘‘(3) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.—An oper-
ating administration or secretarial office within the 
Department of Transportation may incorporate by 
reference all or portions of a draft environmental im-
pact statement, an environmental assessment, or a 
final environmental impact statement for the adopt-
ing operating administration’s use when preparing 
an environmental assessment or final environmental 
impact statement for a project if— 
‘‘(A) the incorporated material is cited in 
the environmental assessment or final environ-
mental impact statement and the contents of the 
incorporated material is briefly described; 
‘‘(B) the incorporated material is reason-
ably available for inspection by potentially in-
terested persons within the time allowed for re-
view and comment; and 
‘‘(C) the incorporated material does not in-
clude proprietary data that is not available for 
review and comment.’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
chapter 3 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 304 the following: 
‘‘304a. Accelerated decisionmaking in environmental reviews.’’. 
SEC. 1317. ALIGNING FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 309 the following: 
‘‘§ 310. Aligning Federal environmental reviews 
‘‘(a) COORDINATED
AND
CONCURRENT
ENVIRON-
MENTAL REVIEWS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this section, the Department of Transpor-
tation, in coordination with the heads of Federal agencies 
likely to have substantive review or approval responsibil-
ities under Federal law, shall develop a coordinated and 
concurrent environmental review and permitting process 
for transportation projects when initiating an environ-
mental impact statement under the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; in this 
section referred to as ‘NEPA’). 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The coordinated and concurrent en-
vironmental review and permitting process shall— 
‘‘(1) ensure that the Department and agencies of 
jurisdiction possess sufficient information early in the 
review process to determine a statement of a transpor-
tation project’s purpose and need and range of alter-
natives for analysis that the lead agency and agencies 
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of jurisdiction will rely on for concurrent environ-
mental reviews and permitting decisions required for 
the proposed project; 
‘‘(2) achieve early concurrence or issue resolution 
during the NEPA scoping process on the Department 
of Transportation’s statement of a project’s purpose 
and need, and during development of the environ-
mental impact statement on the range of alternatives 
for analysis, that the lead agency and agencies of ju-
risdiction will rely on for concurrent environmental 
reviews and permitting decisions required for the pro-
posed project absent circumstances that require recon-
sideration in order to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s 
obligations under a statute or Executive order; and 
‘‘(3) achieve concurrence or issue resolution in 
an expedited manner if circumstances arise that re-
quire a reconsideration of the purpose and need or 
range of alternatives considered during any Federal 
agency’s environmental or permitting review in order 
to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s obligations under 
a statute or Executive order. 
‘‘(c) ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of 
Transportation and Federal agencies of jurisdiction 
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‘‘(I) program; 
‘‘(II) funding category or sub-
category; 
‘‘(III) type of improvement; 
‘‘(IV) State; and 
‘‘(V) sub-State geographical area, 
including urbanized and rural areas, 
on the basis of the population of each 
such area; and 
‘‘(vi) the amount of funds transferred 
by each State, year-to-date, for the current 
fiscal year between programs under section 
126. 
‘‘(B) PROJECT DATA.—On an annual basis, 
the Secretary shall make available a report that, 
to the maximum extent possible, provides project- 
specific data describing— 
‘‘(i) for all projects funded under this 
title (excluding projects for which funds are 
transferred to agencies other than the Fed-
eral Highway Administration)— 
‘‘(I) the specific location of the 
project; 
‘‘(II) the total cost of the project; 
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