SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Chips in 
America Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. SEMICONDUCTOR PROGRAM. 
Section 9909 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 
(15 U.S.C. 4659) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(c) AUTHORITY RELATING
TO ENVIRONMENTAL 
REVIEW.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, none of the following shall be con-
sidered to be a major Federal action under NEPA 
or an undertaking for the purposes of division A of 
subtitle III of title 54, United States Code: 
‘‘(A) The provision by the Secretary of any 
Federal financial assistance for a project de-
scribed in section 9902, if— 
‘‘(i) the covered activity described in 
the application for that project has com-
menced before the date on which the Sec-
retary provides that assistance; 
‘‘(ii) the facility that is the subject of 
the project is on or adjacent to a site— 
‘‘(I) that is owned or leased by 
the covered entity to which Federal fi-
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nancial assistance is provided for that 
project; and 
‘‘(II) on which substantially simi-
lar construction, expansion, or mod-
ernization has been carried out such 
that the facility would not more than 
double existing developed acreage or 
supporting infrastructure; 
‘‘(iii) the Secretary determines, in the 
sole discretion of the Secretary, that the 
laws and regulations governing environ-
mental reviews in the State in which the 
facility that is the subject of the project is 
or will be located are functionally equiva-
lent to the requirements under NEPA; 
‘‘(iv) the Federal financial assistance 
provided is in the form of a loan or loan 
guarantee; or 
‘‘(v) the Federal financial assistance 
provided, excluding any loan or loan guar-
antee, comprises less than 15 percent of 
the total estimated cost of the project. 
‘‘(B) The provision by the Secretary of De-
fense of any Federal financial assistance relat-
ing to— 
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‘‘(i) the creation, expansion, or mod-
ernization of one or more facilities de-
scribed in the second sentence of section 
9903(a)(1); or 
‘‘(ii) carrying out section 9903(b). 
‘‘(C) Any activity relating to carrying out 
section 9906. 
‘‘(2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section may be construed as altering whether an ac-
tivity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 
paragraph (1) is considered to be a major Federal 
action under NEPA, or an undertaking under divi-
sion A of subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, 
for a reason other than that the activity is eligible 
for funding provided under this title. 
‘‘(d) LEAD FEDERAL AGENCY AND COOPERATING 
AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘lead agency’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 111 of NEPA. 
‘‘(2) OPTION TO SERVE AS LEAD AGENCY.— 
With respect to a covered activity that is a major 
Federal action under NEPA, the Department of 
Commerce shall have the first right to serve as the 
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lead agency with respect to that covered activity 
under NEPA. 
‘‘(3) COOPERATING
AGENCY.—The Secretary 
may designate any Federal, State, Tribal, or local 
agency as a cooperating agency with respect to a 
covered activity for which the Department of Com-
merce serves as the lead agency under paragraph 
(1), if the applicable agency has— 
‘‘(A) the jurisdiction to issue an authoriza-
tion or take action for or relating to that cov-
ered activity; or 
‘‘(B) special expertise with respect to that 
covered activity. 
‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) SINGLE DOCUMENT.—All authoriza-
tions relating to a covered activity shall rely on 
a single environmental document and joint 
record of decision prepared by the lead agency 
with respect to that covered activity for the pur-
poses of NEPA. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—An environmental docu-
ment and joint record of decision described in 
subparagraph (A) shall— 
‘‘(i) rely on any comments, analysis, 
proposals, or documentation developed by 
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cooperating agencies designated under 
paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) provide all authorizations nec-
essary for the applicable covered activity as 
if any cooperating agency designated under 
paragraph (3) had issued an environmental 
document and joint record of decision. 
‘‘(e) ADOPTION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF CATEGORICAL EXCLU-
SIONS.—Each of the following categorical exclusions 
is established for the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology and, beginning on the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, is available for use by the 
Secretary: 
‘‘(A) Categorical exclusion 17.04.d (relat-
ing to the acquisition of machinery and equip-
ment) in the document entitled ‘EDA Program 
to Implement the National Environmental Pol-
icy Act of 1969 and Other Federal Environ-
mental Mandates As Required’ (Directive No. 
17.02–2; effective date October 14, 1992). 
‘‘(B) Categorical exclusion A9 in Appendix 
A to subpart D of part 1021 of title 10, Code 
of Federal Regulations, or any successor regula-
tion. 
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‘‘(C) Categorical exclusions B1.24, B1.31, 
B2.5, and B5.1 in Appendix B to subpart D of 
part 1021 of title 10, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor regulation. 
‘‘(D) The categorical exclusions described 
in paragraphs (4) and (13) of section 50.19(b) 
of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
successor regulation. 
‘‘(E) Categorical exclusion (c)(1) in Appen-
dix B to part 651 of title 32, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or any successor regulation. 
‘‘(F) Categorical exclusions A2.3.8 and 
A2.3.14 in Appendix B to part 989 of title 32, 
Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 
regulation. 
‘‘(G) Any other categorical exclusion 
adopted by another Federal agency that the 
Secretary determines would accelerate the com-
pletion of a covered activity if the categorical 
exclusion were available to the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT CHANGES.—In any NEPA 
process that is ongoing (as of the date of enactment 
of this subsection), or that occurs on or after the 
date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
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may update, amend, revise, or remove any categor-
ical exclusion established under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) SCOPE
OF
REVIEW.—The application of 
any categorical exclusion established under para-
graph (1), as the categorical exclusion may be up-
dated, amended, or revised under paragraph (2), 
shall not be subject to evaluation for extraordinary 
circumstances under section 1501.4(b) of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regu-
lation. 
‘‘(f) INCORPORATION
OF PRIOR PLANNING DECI-
SIONS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘prior studies and decisions’ means baseline data, 
planning documents, studies, analyses, decisions, 
and documentation that a Federal agency has com-
pleted for a project (or that have been completed 
under the laws and procedures of a State or Indian 
Tribe), including for determining the reasonable 
range of alternatives for that project. 
‘‘(2) RELIANCE ON PRIOR STUDIES AND DECI-
SIONS.—In completing an environmental review 
under NEPA for a covered activity, the Secretary 
may consider and, as appropriate, rely on or adopt 
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prior studies and decisions, if the Secretary deter-
mines that— 
‘‘(A) those prior studies and decisions meet 
the standards for an adequate statement, as-
sessment, or determination under applicable 
procedures of the Department of Commerce im-
plementing the requirements of NEPA; 
‘‘(B) in the case of prior studies and deci-
sions completed under the laws and procedures 
of a State or Indian Tribe, those laws and pro-
cedures are of equal or greater rigor than those 
of each applicable Federal law, including 
NEPA, implementing procedures of the Depart-
ment of Commerce; or 
‘‘(C) if applicable, the prior studies and de-
cisions are informed by other analysis or docu-
mentation that would have been prepared if the 
prior studies and decisions were prepared by 
the Secretary under NEPA. 
‘‘(g) NEPA ASSIGNMENT.— 
‘‘(1) ASSUMPTION OF RESPONSIBILITY.— 
‘‘(A) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the 
other provisions of this section, with the 
written agreement of the Secretary and a 
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State, which may be in the form of a 
memorandum of understanding, the Sec-
retary may assign, and the State may as-
sume, the responsibilities of the Secretary 
with respect to 1 or more covered activities 
within the State under NEPA. 
‘‘(ii) 
REQUIREMENTS.—A 
written 
agreement between the Secretary and a 
State under clause (i) shall— 
‘‘(I) be executed by the governor 
of the State; 
‘‘(II) provide that the State— 
‘‘(aa) agrees to assume all 
or part of the responsibilities of 
the Secretary described in that 
clause; 
‘‘(bb) expressly consents, on 
behalf of the State, to accept the 
jurisdiction of the courts of the 
United States with respect to 
compliance with, the discharge 
of, and the enforcement of any 
responsibility of the Secretary as-
sumed by the State; 
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‘‘(cc) certifies that there are 
laws of the State, including regu-
lations, in effect that— 
‘‘(AA) 
authorize 
the 
State to take the actions 
necessary to carry out the 
responsibilities 
being 
as-
sumed by the State; and 
‘‘(BB) are comparable 
to section 552 of title 5, 
United States Code, includ-
ing by providing that any 
decision regarding the public 
availability of a document 
under those laws of the 
State may be reviewed by a 
court of competent jurisdic-
tion; and 
‘‘(dd) agrees to make avail-
able the financial resources nec-
essary to carry out the respon-
sibilities being assumed by the 
State; 
‘‘(III) require the State to pro-
vide to the Secretary any information 
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that the Secretary reasonably con-
siders necessary to ensure that the 
State is adequately carrying out the 
responsibilities being assumed by the 
State; and 
‘‘(IV) be renewable. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.—If a 
State assumes responsibility under subpara-
graph (A), the Secretary may assign to the 
State, and the State may assume, all or part of 
the responsibilities of the Secretary for environ-
mental review, consultation, or other action re-
quired under any Federal environmental law 
pertaining to the review or approval of a cov-
ered activity. 
‘‘(C) PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE RE-
QUIREMENTS.—A State shall assume responsi-
bility under this subsection subject to the same 
procedural and substantive requirements as 
would apply if that responsibility were carried 
out by the Secretary. 
‘‘(D) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Any re-
sponsibility of the Secretary not explicitly as-
sumed by a State by written agreement under 
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this subsection shall remain the responsibility of 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(E) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY.—Noth-
ing in this subsection preempts or interferes 
with any power, jurisdiction, responsibility, or 
authority of an agency, other than the Depart-
ment of Commerce, under applicable law (in-
cluding regulations) with respect to a project. 
‘‘(2) STATE
PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 
may develop an application for a State to assume re-
sponsibility under paragraph (1), at such a time and 
containing such information as the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
‘‘(3) SELECTION
CRITERIA.—The Secretary 
may approve the application of a State to assume re-
sponsibility under this subsection only if— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary determines that the 
State has the capability, including financial and 
with respect to personnel, to assume the respon-
sibility; and 
‘‘(B) the governor of the State has entered 
into the written agreement with the Secretary 
required under paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS ON AGREEMENTS.—Nothing 
in this subsection permits a State to assume any 
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