I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8313 
To prioritize Federal permitting for certain national defense activities related 
to the authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 and projects 
related to such activities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2024 
Mr. LUETKEMEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prioritize Federal permitting for certain national defense 
activities related to the authorities under the Defense 
Production Act of 1950 and projects related to such 
activities, 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 ‘‘Help Expedite Lagging 
Permitting for Defense Production Act’’ or the ‘‘Help 
DPA Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 
(1) title III of the Defense Production Act of 
1950 is used to ensure that our nation has sufficient 
industrial resources to meet our national security 
needs; and 
(2) projects funded under such title are of crit-
ical importance to the national security are almost 
always time sensitive. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the Federal permitting process should not 
delay crucial national defense projects any longer 
than necessary; and 
(2) projects funded under title III of the De-
fense Production Act of 1950 and projects given the 
highest priority under title I of the Defense Produc-
tion Act of 1950 deserve an expedited Federal per-
mitting process. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING PERMITTING FOR CERTAIN NATIONAL 
DEFENSE SECTORS EXPERIENCING AN IN-
DUSTRIAL BASE SHORTFALL. 
(a) FASTER PERMITTING.—Section 41001(6)(A) of 
the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)(A)) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘a covered national defense activity (as defined 
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in section 712(b) of the Defense Production Act of 
1950),’’ after ‘‘energy storage,’’. 
(b) PRIORITIZED PERMITTING.—The Defense Pro-
duction Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501) is amended by in-
serting after section 711 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 712. PRIORITIZED PERMITTING. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a project that 
is a covered national defense activity, if such project re-
quires a permit from a Federal agency, the Federal agency 
shall prioritize the consideration of such permit over all 
over projects requiring a permit from the agency. 
‘‘(b) COVERED NATIONAL DEFENSE ACTIVITY DE-
FINED.—The term ‘covered national defense activity’ 
means a project— 
‘‘(1) funded in whole or in part with loans made 
or guaranteed, or grants made, under title III; 
‘‘(2) in a sector essential for the national de-
fense with respect to which the President makes a 
determination under this Act that the sector is expe-
riencing an industrial base shortfall; or 
‘‘(3) for the production of goods or services, the 
contracts or orders for which the President has 
deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the na-
tional defense and has prioritized under title I.’’. 
Æ 
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