[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8249 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8249
To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify the
scope of review, establish limits for judicial review of environmental
documents relating to energy infrastructure, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 13, 2026
Mr. Gottheimer 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 clarify the
scope of review, establish limits for judicial review of environmental
documents relating to energy infrastructure, 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 ``Making Reviews Certain Act''.
SEC. 2. SCOPE OF REVIEW.
Section 106 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4336) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by inserting ``; scope of review''
after ``level of review''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Scope of Review.--In preparing an environmental document for
a proposed agency action, a Federal agency is only required to consider
those effects that share a reasonably close causal relationship to, and
are proximately caused by, the immediate project or action under
consideration, to comply with the requirements of this Act.''.
SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.
Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4331 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 112 as section 110A and moving
such section so as to appear after section 110; and
(2) by inserting before section 111 the following:
``SEC. 110B. LIMITATIONS ON JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.
``(a) Limitations on Claims.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law (except as provided in subparagraph (A) with respect to a
shorter deadline), a claim challenging whether a final agency
action relating to energy infrastructure complies with the
requirements of this Act shall be barred unless--
``(A) such claim is filed not later than 180 days
after the final agency action is made public, unless a
shorter deadline is specified under law;
``(B) in the case of a final agency action for
which there was a public comment period on an
environmental document, such claim--
``(i) is filed by a party that submitted a
substantive and unique comment during such
public comment period by the noticed comment
deadline for the environmental document and
such comment was sufficiently detailed to put
the applicable Federal agency on notice of the
issue upon which the party seeks review; and
``(ii) concerns the same subject matter
raised in the comment submitted during the
public comment period;
``(C) such claim is filed by a party that has
suffered or imminently will suffer direct harm from the
final agency action; and
``(D) such claim does not challenge the
establishment of a categorical exclusion.
``(2) Energy infrastructure defined.--In this subsection,
the term `energy infrastructure' means a facility, and
associated equipment, used for enabling the identification,
leasing, development, production, processing, transportation,
transmission, refining, and generation needed for energy.
``(b) Limitations on Remand.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no final agency action shall be vacated by a court,
following a decision on the merits, unless the court determines
that--
``(A) the major Federal action for which the
environmental document or final agency action is
prepared will pose a significant risk of a proximate
and substantial environmental harm; and
``(B) there is no other equitable remedy available
as a matter of law.
``(2) Remand.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
if a court determines there are errors or deficiencies with an
environmental document or final agency action that need to be
corrected--
``(A) the court may remand the environmental
document to the applicable Federal agency with specific
instruction to correct such errors or deficiencies
within 180 days from the date on which the order of the
court was issued to the applicable Federal agency; and
``(B) the major Federal action may be carried out
pursuant to the final agency action notwithstanding the
remand of the environmental document or final agency
action under subparagraph (A), including during the
time prescribed by the court to the Federal agency to
correct such errors or deficiencies, so long as the
court has not determined that vacatur is appropriate
under paragraph (1).
``(c) No Effect on Review of Compliance With Other Deadlines.--This
section shall not affect the right to obtain review under section
107(g)(3).''.
SEC. 4. DEFERENCE TO AGENCIES IN JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Section 111 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4336e) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(14) Reasonably foreseeable.--To comply with the
requirements of this Act, the term `reasonably foreseeable',
with respect to environmental effects of a proposed agency
action, means effects that share a reasonably close causal
relationship to, and are proximately caused by, the immediate
project or action under consideration.''.
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