I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 644 
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to authorize assign-
ment to States of Federal agency environmental review responsibilities, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2021 
Mr. CALVERT 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 authorize assignment to States of Federal agency envi-
ronmental review responsibilities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Environ-
mental Barriers to Unified Infrastructure and Land De-
velopment Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘REBUILD Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ASSIGNMENT TO STATES OF FEDERAL ENVIRON-
MENTAL REVIEW RESPONSIBILITIES. 
Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 106. ASSIGNMENT TO STATES OF ENVIRONMENTAL 
REVIEW RESPONSIBILITIES WITH RESPECT 
TO CERTAIN PROJECTS IN THE STATE. 
‘‘(a) ASSUMPTION OF RESPONSIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other provi-
sions of this section, with the written agreement of 
the responsible Federal official and a State, which 
may be in the form of a memorandum of under-
standing, the responsible Federal official may assign, 
and the State may assume, the responsibilities of the 
responsible Federal official under this Act with re-
spect to one or more covered Federal projects of the 
responsible Federal official within the State. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.—If a State 
assumes responsibility under paragraph (1) the re-
sponsible Federal official may assign to the State, 
and the State may assume, all or part of the respon-
sibilities of the responsible Federal official for envi-
ronmental review, consultation, or other action re-
quired under any Federal environmental law per-
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taining to the review or approval of covered projects 
of the responsible Federal official. 
‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL
AND
SUBSTANTIVE
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—A State shall assume responsibility 
under this section subject to the same procedural 
and substantive requirements as would apply if that 
responsibility were carried out by the responsible 
Federal official. 
‘‘(4) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Any respon-
sibility of the responsible Federal official not explic-
itly assumed by the State by written agreement 
under this section shall remain the responsibility of 
the responsible Federal official. 
‘‘(5) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 
this section preempts or interferes with any power, 
jurisdiction, responsibility, or authority of an agen-
cy, other than the agency of the responsible Federal 
official for a covered Federal project, under applica-
ble law (including regulations) with respect to the 
project. 
‘‘(b) STATE PARTICIPATION.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, each re-
sponsible Federal official shall promulgate regula-
tions that establish requirements relating to infor-
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publishing the complete application of the State 
in accordance with the appropriate public notice 
law of the State. 
‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—A responsible Fed-
eral official may approve the application of a State 
under this section only if— 
‘‘(A) the regulatory requirements under 
paragraph (2) have been met; 
‘‘(B) the responsible Federal official deter-
mines that the State has the capability, includ-
ing financial and personnel, to assume the re-
sponsibility; and 
‘‘(C) the head of the State agency having 
primary jurisdiction over covered projects with 
respect to which responsibility would be as-
signed to the State pursuant to the application 
enters into a written agreement with the re-
sponsible Federal official described in sub-
section (c). 
‘‘(4) OTHER
FEDERAL
AGENCY
VIEWS.—If a 
State applies to assume a responsibility of a respon-
sible Federal official that would have required the 
responsible Federal official to consult with another 
Federal agency, the responsible Federal official shall 
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solicit the views of the Federal agency before ap-
proving the application. 
‘‘(c) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.—A written agreement 
under this section shall— 
‘‘(1) be executed by the Governor of the State 
or the head of the State agency referred to in sub-
section (b)(3)(C); 
‘‘(2) be in such form as the responsible Federal 
official may prescribe; and 
‘‘(3) provide that the State— 
‘‘(A) agrees to assume all or part of the re-
sponsibilities of the responsible Federal official 
described in subsection (a); 
‘‘(B) expressly consents, on behalf of the 
State, to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal 
courts for the compliance, discharge, and en-
forcement of any responsibility of the respon-
sible Federal official assumed by the State; 
‘‘(C) certifies that State laws (including 
regulations) are in effect that— 
‘‘(i) authorize the State to take the 
actions necessary to carry out the respon-
sibilities being assumed; and 
‘‘(ii) are comparable to section 552 of 
title 5, United States Code, including pro-
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viding that any decision regarding the pub-
lic availability of a document under those 
State laws is reviewable by a court of com-
petent jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(D) agrees to maintain the financial re-
sources necessary to carry out the responsibil-
ities being assumed. 
‘‘(d) JURISDICTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States district 
courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any civil 
action against a State for failure to carry out any 
responsibility of the State under this section. 
‘‘(2) 
LEGAL
STANDARDS
AND
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A civil action under paragraph (1) shall be 
governed by the legal standards and requirements 
that would apply in such a civil action against the 
responsible Federal official had the responsible Fed-
eral official taken the actions in question. 
‘‘(3) INTERVENTION.—The responsible Federal 
official shall have the right to intervene in any ac-
tion described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(e) EFFECT
OF
ASSUMPTION
OF
RESPONSI-
BILITY.—A State that assumes responsibility under sub-
section (a) shall be solely responsible and solely liable for 
carrying out, in lieu of the responsible Federal official, the 
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responsibilities assumed under subsection (a), until the 
termination of such assumption of responsibility. 
‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS
ON AGREEMENTS.—Nothing in 
this section permits a State to assume any rulemaking au-
thority of the responsible Federal official under any Fed-
eral law. 
‘‘(g) AUDITS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure compliance by a 
State with any agreement of the State under sub-
section (c) (including compliance by the State with 
all Federal laws for which responsibility is assumed 
under subsection (a)), for each State participating in 
the program under this section, the responsible Fed-
eral official shall conduct— 
‘‘(A) semiannual audits during each of the 
first 2 years of the effective period of the agree-
ment; and 
‘‘(B) annual audits during each subsequent 
year of such effective period. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND COMMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—An audit conducted 
under paragraph (1) shall be provided to the 
public for comment for a 30-day period. 
‘‘(B) RESPONSE.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date on which the period for public 
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comment ends, the responsible Federal official 
shall respond to public comments received 
under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each responsible Fed-
eral official shall submit to Congress an annual report that 
describes the administration of this section by such offi-
cial. 
‘‘(i) TERMINATION BY RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL OFFI-
CIAL.—The responsible Federal official with respect to an 
agreement with a State under this section may terminate 
the agreement, and any responsibility or authority of the 
State under this section with respect to such agreement, 
if— 
‘‘(1) the responsible Federal official determines 
that the State is not adequately carrying out the re-
sponsibilities assumed by the State under this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(2) the responsible Federal official provides to 
the State— 
‘‘(A) notification of the determination of 
noncompliance; and 
‘‘(B) a period of at least 30 days during 
which to take such corrective action as the re-
sponsible Federal official determines is nec-
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essary to comply with the applicable agreement; 
and 
‘‘(3) the State, after the notification and period 
provided under subparagraph (B), fails to take satis-
factory corrective action, as determined by the re-
sponsible Federal official. 
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COVERED FEDERAL PROJECT.—The term 
‘covered Federal project’ means— 
‘‘(A)(i) except as provided in clause (ii) 
and subparagraph (B), any project that is fund-
ed by, carried out by, or subject to approval or 
disapproval by a responsible official, including 
any project for which a permit or other author-
ization by a responsible Federal official is re-
quired; and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of projects funded, carried 
out by, or subject to review, approval, or dis-
approval by the Secretary of the Army, and ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (B), includes 
only such projects of the Corps of Engineers; 
and 
‘‘(B) the preparation of any statement re-
quired by section 102(2)(C). 
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‘‘(2) RESPONSIBLE
FEDERAL
OFFICIAL.—The 
term ‘responsible Federal official’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary of the Interior; 
‘‘(B) the Secretary of Transportation; 
‘‘(C) the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency; 
‘‘(D) the Secretary of the Army; and 
‘‘(E) the head of a Federal agency, with 
respect to the preparation of statements under 
section 102(2)(C) for major Federal actions (as 
that term is used in that section) of the agen-
cy.’’. 
Æ 
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