Federal Permitting Modernization Act of 2021
Bill: S.362 | Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted (R-TX)
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Federal Permitting Modernization Act of 2021
This bill revises environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) for certain infrastructure projects.
Specifically, this bill establishes deadlines for federal agencies to complete the environmental review of such projects.
A court may not issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against an agency or a project sponsor in connection with the review or authorization of an infrastructure project unless the court determines that (1) the environmental review has failed substantially and materially to comply with the requirements of NEPA, and (2) the failure cannot be cured by supplementing the environmental document or other mitigation and monitoring measures.

To amend the FAST Act to improve the Federal permitting process, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Permitting Modernization Act 
of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL PERMITTING MODERNIZATION.

    (a) Permitting Process Improvement.--Section 41003 of the FAST Act 
(42 U.S.C. 4370m-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by striking ``or (C)'' and 
        inserting ``or (D)''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subparagraph 
                (C)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (D)'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (G) 
                as subparagraphs (C) through (H), respectively;
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following:
                    ``(B) Notice of intent and scoping.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The permitting timetable 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall require that not 
                        later than 5 business days after the 
                        Coordinated Project Plan is required to be 
                        established under paragraph (1)(A), the lead 
                        agency shall publish in the Federal Register a 
                        notice of intent to prepare the relevant 
                        environmental document required by NEPA.
                            ``(ii) Environmental impact statements.--If 
                        the relevant environmental document required by 
                        NEPA is an environmental impact statement, the 
                        notice of intent required under clause (i) and 
                        the permitting timetable under subparagraph (A) 
                        shall provide for a public scoping period of 
                        not longer than 60 days, which shall begin not 
                        later than 30 days after the date on which the 
                        notice of intent is published.'';
                    (D) in clause (i)(III) of subparagraph (E) (as so 
                redesignated), by striking ``subparagraph (B)'' and 
                inserting ``subparagraph (C)'';
                    (E) in clause (i) of subparagraph (G) (as so 
                redesignated), by striking ``subparagraph (D)'' and 
                inserting ``subparagraph (E)''; and
                    (F) in clause (iii) of subparagraph (H) (as so 
                redesignated), by striking ``subparagraph (F)'' and 
                inserting ``subparagraph (G)''.
    (b) Coordination of Required Reviews.--Section 41005 of the FAST 
Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m-4) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Final Environmental Impact Statement.--
            ``(1) Incorporation of comments and publication of final 
        environmental impact statement.--Subject to paragraph (2)(C), 
        not later than 30 days after the date on which the public 
        comment period for a draft environmental impact statement under 
        subsection (d)(1) ends, the lead agency shall--
                    ``(A) incorporate any necessary changes; and
                    ``(B) approve, adopt, and publish the final 
                environmental impact statement.
            ``(2) Preparation by project sponsor.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, an environmental impact statement for 
                a covered project shall not be considered legally 
                insufficient solely because the draft environmental 
                impact statement was prepared by, or under the 
                supervision of, the project sponsor, if the lead 
                agency--
                            ``(i) furnishes guidance and participates 
                        in the preparation of the environmental impact 
                        statement;
                            ``(ii) independently evaluates the 
                        environmental impact statement; and
                            ``(iii) approves and adopts the 
                        environmental impact statement.
                    ``(B) Approval and adoption of draft statement.--If 
                the lead agency approves and adopts a draft 
                environmental impact statement described in 
                subparagraph (A), the lead agency shall publish the 
                draft environmental impact statement for public comment 
                not later than 30 days after the date on which the lead 
                agency receives the draft environmental impact 
                statement.
                    ``(C) Resubmission.--If the lead agency determines 
                that a draft environmental impact statement described 
                in subparagraph (A) is legally insufficient or 
                deficient in a respect that could affect the decision 
                of a lead agency or a cooperating agency, the lead 
                agency shall, not later than 30 days after the date on 
                which the agency receives the draft environmental 
                impact statement--
                            ``(i) indicate all deficiencies in the 
                        draft environmental impact statement to the 
                        project sponsor for remediation; and
                            ``(ii) allow the project sponsor to 
                        resubmit the draft detailed statement in 
                        accordance with subparagraph (B).
                    ``(D) Savings provision.--The procedures under this 
                paragraph shall not relieve any agency of--
                            ``(i) any responsibilities for the scope, 
                        objectivity, and content of an environmental 
                        impact statement; or
                            ``(ii) any other responsibility under 
                        NEPA.''.
    (c) Preliminary Injunctive Relief in NEPA Actions.--Section 41007 
of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m-6) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as 
        subsections (d) through (f), respectively;
            (2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``In addition'' and inserting ``Subject to 
        subsection (c), in addition''; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Preliminary Injunctive Relief in NEPA Actions.--In the case 
of an action pertaining to an environmental review conducted under 
NEPA, a court shall not issue a temporary restraining order or 
preliminary injunction against an agency or a project sponsor in 
connection with the review or authorization of a covered project unless 
the court, in the discretion of the court, determines that--
            ``(1) the environmental review has failed substantially and 
        materially to comply with the requirements of NEPA; and
            ``(2) the failure described in paragraph (1) cannot be 
        cured by supplementing the environmental document or other 
        mitigation and monitoring measures.''.
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