[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 715 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 715
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the
submission of certain reports, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 11, 2021
Mr. Lee 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
submission of certain reports, 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 ``NEPA Data Transparency and
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRED REPORTS UNDER NEPA.
Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is
amended--
(1) by redesignating section 105 (42 U.S.C. 4335) as
section 106; and
(2) by inserting after section 104 (42 U.S.C. 4334) the
following:
``SEC. 105. REQUIRED REPORTS.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Environmental assessment.--The term `environmental
assessment' has the meaning given the term in section 1508.9 of
title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation).
``(2) Environmental impact statement.--The term
`environmental impact statement' means a detailed statement
required under section 102(2)(C).
``(3) Federal agency.--The term `Federal agency' includes a
State that has assumed responsibility under section 327 of
title 23, United States Code.
``(4) Head of a federal agency.--The term `head of a
Federal agency' includes the governor or head of an applicable
State agency of a State that has assumed responsibility under
section 327 of title 23, United States Code.
``(5) NEPA process.--
``(A) In general.--The term `NEPA process' means
the entirety of every process, analysis, or other
measure, including an environmental impact statement,
required to be carried out by a Federal agency under
this title before the agency undertakes a proposed
action.
``(B) Period.--For purposes of subparagraph (A),
the NEPA process--
``(i) begins on the date on which the head
of a Federal agency receives an application for
a proposed action from a project sponsor; and
``(ii) ends on the date on which the
Federal agency issues, with respect to the
proposed action--
``(I) a record of decision,
including, if necessary, a revised
record of decision;
``(II) a finding of no significant
impact; or
``(III) a categorical exclusion
under this title.
``(6) Project sponsor.--The term `project sponsor' means a
Federal agency or other entity, including a private or public-
private entity, that seeks approval of a proposed action.
``(b) Reports.--
``(1) NEPA data.--
``(A) In general.--The head of each Federal agency
that carries out the NEPA process shall carry out a
process to track, and annually submit to Congress a
report containing, the information described in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Information described.--The information
referred to in subparagraph (A) is, with respect to the
Federal agency issuing the report under that
subparagraph--
``(i) the number of proposed actions for
which a categorical exclusion was issued during
the reporting period;
``(ii) the length of time the Federal
agency took to issue the categorical exclusions
described in clause (i);
``(iii) the number of proposed actions
pending on the date on which the report is
submitted for which the issuance of a
categorical exclusion is pending;
``(iv) the number of proposed actions for
which an environmental assessment was issued
during the reporting period;
``(v) the length of time the Federal agency
took to complete each environmental assessment
described in clause (iv);
``(vi) the number of proposed actions
pending on the date on which the report is
submitted for which an environmental assessment
is being drafted;
``(vii) the number of proposed actions for
which an environmental impact statement was
issued during the reporting period;
``(viii) the length of time the Federal
agency took to complete each environmental
impact statement described in clause (vii); and
``(ix) the number of proposed actions
pending on the date on which the report is
submitted for which an environmental impact
statement is being drafted.
``(2) NEPA costs.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Chair of the
Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall jointly
develop a methodology to assess the comprehensive costs
of the NEPA process.
``(B) Requirements.--The head of each Federal
agency that carries out the NEPA process shall--
``(i) adopt the methodology developed under
subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) use the methodology developed under
subparagraph (A) to annually submit to Congress
a report describing--
``(I) the comprehensive cost of the
NEPA process for each proposed action
that was carried out within the
reporting period; and
``(II) for a proposed action for
which the head of the Federal agency is
still completing the NEPA process at
the time the report is submitted--
``(aa) the amount of money
expended to date to carry out
the NEPA process for the
proposed action; and
``(bb) an estimate of the
remaining costs before the NEPA
process for the proposed action
is complete.''.
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