SEC. 215. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 
In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin-
istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal-
lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 
correct, and the presumption may be rebutted only by 
clear and convincing evidence contained in the administra-
tive record. 
SEC. 216. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND PROSPECTIVE 
RELIEF. 
In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 
or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 
that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 
necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 
and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 
violation. In addition, a court shall limit the duration of 
a preliminary injunction to halt a covered energy projects 
to no more than 60 days, unless the court finds clear rea-
sons to extend the injunction. In such case of an extension, 
such extension shall only be in a 30-day increment and 
shall require action by the court to renew the injunction. 
SEC. 217. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 
Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 
of title 28, United States Code, (together commonly called 
the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 
civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac-
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tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 
their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 
SEC. 218. LEGAL STANDING. 
Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the 
Interior Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same 
standing requirements as challengers before a United 
States district court. 
Subtitle C—Permitting Reform 
SEC. 221. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this subtitle are to— 
(1) respond to the Nation’s increased need for 
domestic energy resources; 
(2) facilitate interagency coordination and co-
operation in the processing of permits required to 
support oil and gas use authorization on Federal 
lands, both onshore and on the Outer Continental 
Shelf, in order to achieve greater consistency, cer-
tainty, and timeliness in permit processing require-
ments; 
(3) promote process streamlining and increased 
interagency efficiency, including elimination of inter-
agency duplication of effort; 
(4) improve information sharing among agen-
cies and understanding of respective agency roles 
and responsibilities; 
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(5) promote coordination with State agencies 
with expertise and responsibilities related to Federal 
oil and gas permitting decisions; 
(6) promote responsible stewardship of Federal 
oil and gas resources; 
(7) maintain high standards of safety and envi-
ronmental protection; and 
(8) enhance the benefits to Federal permitting 
already occurring as a result of a coordinated and 
timely interagency process for oil and gas permit re-
view for certain Federal oil and gas leases. 
SEC. 222. FEDERAL COORDINATOR. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, as an 
independent agency in the Executive Branch, the Office 
of the Federal Oil and Gas Permit Coordinator. 
(b) FEDERAL PERMIT COORDINATOR.—The Office 
shall be headed by a Federal Permit Coordinator, who 
shall be appointed by the President within 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
(c) DUTIES.—The Federal Permit Coordinator shall 
be responsible for the following: 
(1) Coordinating the timely completion of all 
permitting activities by Federal agencies, and State 
agencies to the maximum extent practicable, with re-
spect to any oil and gas project under a Federal 
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lease issued pursuant to the mineral leasing laws, ei-
ther onshore or on the Outer Continental Shelf, in-
cluding (for purposes of this subtitle only) any oil 
shale project under a Federal oil shale lease. 
(2) Ensuring the compliance of Federal agen-
cies, and State agencies to the extent they partici-
pate, with this subtitle. 
SEC. 223. REGIONAL OFFICES AND REGIONAL PERMIT CO-
ORDINATORS. 
(a) REGIONAL OFFICES.—Within 90 days after the 
date of appointment of the Federal Permit Coordinator, 
the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Fed-
eral Permit Coordinator, shall establish regional offices to 
coordinate review of Federal permits for oil and gas 
projects on Federal lands onshore and on the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf. 
(b) NUMBER
AND LOCATION
OF REGIONAL OF-
FICES.—The number of regional offices shall be estab-
lished by the Secretary in consultation with the Federal 
Permit Coordinator. The Secretary shall ensure that there 
is an adequate number of offices in each region proximate 
to available Federal oil and gas lease tracts onshore and 
on the Outer Continental Shelf to meet the demands for 
expeditious permitting in that region. The Secretary shall 
designate as regional offices under this section all offices 
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established under section 365 of the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15924). 
(c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Within 90 
days after the appointment of the Federal Permit Coordi-
nator, the Federal Permit Coordinator, the Secretary, the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of De-
fense, and the head of any other Federal agency with re-
sponsibilities related to permitting of Federal oil and gas 
leases, shall enter into a memorandum of understanding 
establishing respective duties and responsibilities for staff-
ing the regional offices and accomplishing the objectives 
of this section. 
(d) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date of signing of the MOU, all Federal signa-
tory agencies shall assign to each regional office the 
appropriate employees with expertise in the oil and 
gas permitting issues relating to that office, includ-
ing, but not limited to, with respect to— 
(A) consultation and preparation of bio-
logical opinions under section 7 of the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536); 
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