I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6491 
To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to allow funding 
recipients to assume certain responsibilities relating to the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 5, 2025 
Mr. KENNEDY of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to 
allow funding recipients to assume certain responsibilities 
relating to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969. 
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 ‘‘Streamline Transit 
Projects Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. NEPA REFORM FOR CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5321 
the following: 
‘‘§ 5322. Transit agency assumption of responsibility 
for categorical exclusions 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 
recipient’ means a direct recipient of funds under this 
chapter that— 
‘‘(1) is located in an urbanized area with a pop-
ulation of more than 200,000 individuals; and 
‘‘(2) demonstrates to the Secretary that the re-
cipient has the legal, technical, and financial capac-
ity to perform the responsibilities required under 
this section. 
‘‘(b) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DETERMINATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may assign 
to an eligible recipient, and an eligible recipient may 
assume, responsibility for determining whether cer-
tain designated activities are included within classes 
of action identified by the Secretary that are cat-
egorically excluded from requirements for environ-
mental assessments or environmental impact state-
ments pursuant to the interim final rule promul-
gated by the Secretary at part 771 of title 23, Code 
of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. 
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‘‘(2) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—A determination 
described in paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) shall be made by an eligible recipient 
in accordance with criteria established by the 
Secretary; and 
‘‘(B) may only be made by an eligible re-
cipient with respect to a type of activity under 
this chapter specifically designated by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—The criteria under paragraph 
(2)(A) shall include provisions for public availability 
of information consistent with section 552 of title 5 
and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
‘‘(4) PRESERVATION
OF
FLEXIBILITY.—The 
Secretary may not require an eligible recipient, as a 
condition of assuming responsibility under this sec-
tion, to forego project delivery methods that are oth-
erwise permissible for transit projects. 
‘‘(c) OTHER APPLICABLE FEDERAL LAWS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible recipient as-
sumes responsibility under subsection (b), the Sec-
retary may also assign, and the eligible recipient 
may assume, all or part of the responsibilities of the 
Secretary for environmental review, consultation, or 
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