I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 481 
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 
JANUARY 12, 2017 
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 2017’’ 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 the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.) with respect 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-
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mation required to be contained in any application 
of a State to assume responsibility under this section 
with respect to covered Federal projects of the re-
sponsible Federal official, including, at a min-
imum— 
‘‘(A) the projects or classes of projects for 
which the State anticipates exercising the au-
thority that may be granted under this section; 
‘‘(B) verification of the financial resources 
necessary to carry out the authority that may 
be assigned under this section; and 
‘‘(C) evidence of the notice and solicitation 
of public comment by the State relating to as-
sumption of responsibility under this section by 
the State, including copies of comments re-
ceived from that solicitation. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State that sub-
mits an application under this subsection shall 
give notice of the intent of the State to submit 
such application not later than 30 days before 
the date of submission of the application. 
‘‘(B) METHOD OF NOTICE AND SOLICITA-
TION.—The State shall provide notice and so-
licit public comment under this paragraph by 
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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, including providing that any deci-
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sion regarding the public availability of a 
document under those State laws is review-
able by a court of competent 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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