[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 3

To approve the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone 
                  XL pipeline, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2013

Mr. Terry (for himself, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Upton, Mr. Barrow of Georgia, 
  Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Barton, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Bishop of 
 Utah, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Bonner, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Bridenstine, Mr. 
Broun of Georgia, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Brooks of Alabama, Mr. Burgess, Mrs. 
 Capito, Mr. Carter, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Coble, Mr. Conaway, 
 Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Culberson, Mr. Daines, Mr. Rodney Davis 
 of Illinois, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mrs. Ellmers, Mr. Fincher, 
   Mr. Flores, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Gardner, Mr. 
Gingrey of Georgia, Ms. Granger, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr. Griffin of 
   Arkansas, Mr. Griffith of Virginia, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Harper, Mr. 
   Harris, Mr. Huelskamp, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, Mr. Hunter, Mr. 
 Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Kinzinger of Illinois, Mr. Lance, Mr. Latta, Mr. 
   Long, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McCaul, Mr. 
  McHenry, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Mullin, Mr. Mulvaney, Mrs. Noem, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Olson, Mr. Pearce, Mr. 
Pitts, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Ribble, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Rogers 
 of Michigan, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Stivers, Mr. 
   Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Walden, Mrs. Walorski, Mr. Weber of 
Texas, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. Womack, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Coffman, 
Mr. Bentivolio, and Ms. Foxx) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in 
     addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Natural 
 Resources, 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 approve the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone 
                  XL pipeline, 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 ``Northern Route Approval Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) To maintain our Nation's competitive edge and ensure an 
        economy built to last, the United States must have fast, 
        reliable, resilient, and environmentally sound means of moving 
        energy. In a global economy, we will compete for the world's 
        investments based in significant part on the quality of our 
        infrastructure. Investing in the Nation's infrastructure 
        provides immediate and long-term economic benefits for local 
        communities and the Nation as a whole.
            (2) The delivery of oil from Canada, a close ally not only 
        in proximity but in shared values and ideals, to domestic 
        markets is in the national interest because of the need to 
        lessen dependence upon insecure foreign sources.
            (3) The Keystone XL pipeline would provide both short-term 
        and long-term employment opportunities and related labor income 
        benefits, such as government revenues associated with taxes.
            (4) The State of Nebraska has thoroughly reviewed and 
        approved the proposed Keystone XL pipeline reroute, concluding 
        that the concerns of Nebraskans have had a major influence on 
        the pipeline reroute and that the reroute will have minimal 
        environmental impacts.
            (5) The Department of State and other Federal agencies have 
        over a long period of time conducted extensive studies and 
        analysis of the technical aspects and of the environmental, 
        social, and economic impacts of the proposed Keystone XL 
        pipeline.
            (6) The transportation of oil via pipeline is the safest 
        and most economically and environmentally effective means of 
        doing so.
            (7) The Keystone XL is in much the same position today as 
        the Alaska Pipeline in 1973 prior to congressional action. Once 
        again, the Federal regulatory process remains an insurmountable 
        obstacle to a project that is likely to reduce oil imports from 
        insecure foreign sources.

SEC. 3. KEYSTONE XL PERMIT APPROVAL.

    Notwithstanding Executive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), 
Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 301 of title 3, 
United States Code, and any other Executive order or provision of law, 
no Presidential permit shall be required for the pipeline described in 
the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, 
L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, as 
supplemented to include the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final 
Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental 
Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor. The 
final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State 
on August 26, 2011, coupled with the Final Evaluation Report described 
in the previous sentence, shall be considered to satisfy all 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 
U.S.C. 470 et seq.).

SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Exclusive Jurisdiction.--Except for review by the Supreme Court 
on writ of certiorari, the United States Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit shall have original and exclusive 
jurisdiction to determine--
            (1) the validity of any final order or action (including a 
        failure to act) of any Federal agency or officer with respect 
        to issuance of a permit relating to the construction or 
        maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline, including any final 
        order or action deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued;
            (2) the constitutionality of any provision of this Act, or 
        any decision or action taken, made, granted, or issued, or 
        deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued under this Act; or
            (3) the adequacy of any environmental impact statement 
        prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
        (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or of any analysis under any other 
        Act, with respect to any action taken, made, granted, or 
        issued, or deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued under 
        this Act.
    (b) Deadline for Filing Claim.--A claim arising under this Act may 
be brought not later than 60 days after the date of the decision or 
action giving rise to the claim.
    (c) Expedited Consideration.--The United States Court of Appeals 
for the District of Columbia Circuit shall set any action brought under 
subsection (a) for expedited consideration, taking into account the 
national interest of enhancing national energy security by providing 
access to the significant oil reserves in Canada that are needed to 
meet the demand for oil.

SEC. 5. AMERICAN BURYING BEETLE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) environmental reviews performed for the Keystone XL 
        pipeline project satisfy the requirements of section 7 of the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) in its 
        entirety; and
            (2) for purposes of that Act, the Keystone XL pipeline 
        project will not jeopardize the continued existence of the 
        American burying beetle or destroy or adversely modify American 
        burying beetle critical habitat.
    (b) Biological Opinion.--The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to 
have issued a written statement setting forth the Secretary's opinion 
containing such findings under section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)(A)) and any taking of the 
American burying beetle that is incidental to the construction or 
operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline as it may be 
ultimately defined in its entirety, shall not be considered a 
prohibited taking of such species under such Act.

SEC. 6. RIGHT-OF-WAY AND TEMPORARY USE PERMIT.

    The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have granted or issued a 
grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit under section 28 of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as set forth in the 
application tendered to the Bureau of Land Management for the Keystone 
XL pipeline.

SEC. 7. PERMITS FOR ACTIVITIES IN NAVIGABLE WATERS.

    (a) Issuance of Permits.--The Secretary of the Army, not later than 
90 days after receipt of an application therefor, shall issue all 
permits under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1344) and section 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 
403; commonly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 
1899), necessary for the construction, operation, and maintenance of 
the pipeline described in the May 4, 2012, application referred to in 
section 3, as supplemented by the Nebraska reroute. The application 
shall be based on the administrative record for the pipeline as of the 
date of enactment of this Act, which shall be considered complete.
    (b) Waiver of Procedural Requirements.--The Secretary may waive any 
procedural requirement of law or regulation that the Secretary 
considers desirable to waive in order to accomplish the purposes of 
this section.
    (c) Issuance in Absence of Action by the Secretary.--If the 
Secretary has not issued a permit described in subsection (a) on or 
before the last day of the 90-day period referred to in subsection (a), 
the permit shall be deemed issued under section 404 of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) or section 10 of the Act 
of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), as appropriate, on the day following 
such last day.
    (d) Limitation.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency may not prohibit or restrict an activity or use of an area that 
is authorized under this section.

SEC. 8. MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT PERMIT.

    The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have issued a special 
purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et 
seq.), as described in the application filed with the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 11, 
2013.
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