[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5263 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5263
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the
Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report on
environmental reviews and causes of action based on alleged non-
compliance with that Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 25, 2024
Mr. Braun (for himself, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Crapo)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the
Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report on
environmental reviews and causes of action based on alleged non-
compliance with that Act, 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 ``Studying NEPA's Impact on Projects
Act''.
SEC. 2. CEQ ANNUAL REPORT.
(a) In General.--Section 201 of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4341) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 201. CEQ ANNUAL REPORT.
``(a) Report Required.--Beginning on July 1, 2025, the Council on
Environmental Quality (referred to in this section as the `Council')
shall annually publish on the website of the Council, and submit to
Congress, a report on--
``(1) each cause of action based on alleged non-compliance
with this Act filed during the 1-year period ending on June 1
of the calendar year in which the report is submitted, which
shall identify--
``(A) with respect to each cause of action, the
lead defendant Federal agency and the lead plaintiff;
``(B) the number of causes of action, disaggregated
by the lead defendant Federal agency;
``(C) the alleged basis for each cause of action,
disaggregated by type; and
``(D) the status and outcome, if applicable, of
each cause of action based on alleged non-compliance
with this Act filed during that period, including
whether--
``(i) the cause of action resulted in the
major Federal action being reversed;
``(ii) the lead defendant Federal agency
was allowed to move forward with the major
Federal action;
``(iii) the court issued a ruling directing
the lead defendant Federal agency to take
additional measures to be in compliance with
this Act;
``(iv) the lead plaintiff and the lead
defendant Federal agency entered into a
settlement agreement; and
``(v) the cause of action is still in
progress;
``(2) the length of environmental impact statements
prepared pursuant to section 102(2)(C) and environmental
assessments prepared pursuant to section 106(b)(2) during the
5-year period ending on June 1 of the calendar year in which
the report is submitted, which shall include--
``(A) the average and median page count of each
draft and final environmental impact statement
(including the appendix) published in the Federal
Register during that period, including the page counts
disaggregated by quartiles;
``(B) the average and median page count of each
final environmental assessment (including the appendix)
published in the Federal Register during that period,
including the page counts disaggregated by quartiles;
``(C) the number of draft and final environmental
impact statements published in the Federal Register
during that period, disaggregated by lead Federal
agency and subagency, as applicable;
``(D) the number of final environmental assessments
published in the Federal Register during that period,
disaggregated by lead Federal agency and subagency, as
applicable;
``(E) a description of trends in average and median
page count of draft and final environmental impact
statements published in the Federal Register during
that period compared those identified in prior reports
published by the Council under this section; and
``(F) a description of trends in average and median
page count of final environmental assessments published
in the Federal Register during that period compared to
those identified in prior reports published by the
Council under this section; and
``(3) the timelines to complete environmental reviews
pursuant to section 102(2)(C) during the 10-year period ending
on June 1 of the calendar year in which the report is
submitted, which shall include--
``(A) with respect to each major Federal action
commenced during that period, the date on which, as
applicable--
``(i) the notice of intent to prepare the
environmental impact statement was published in
the Federal Register;
``(ii) the draft environmental impact
statement was published in the Federal
Register;
``(iii) the final environmental impact
statement was published in the Federal
Register; and
``(iv) the record of decision was published
in the Federal Register;
``(B) the average and median publication timelines
during that period for each document described in
subparagraph (A); and
``(C) a description of trends in completion times
during that period for those documents compared to the
documents identified in prior reports published by the
Council under this section.
``(b) Public Availability of Data.--The Council shall publish with
each report published under subsection (a) the underlying data used to
prepare the report.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 204 of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4344) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1); and
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (8) as
paragraphs (1) through (7), respectively.
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