[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3822-S3824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6617. Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. Curtis) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1__. EPERMIT ACT.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) coordination between Federal, State, and local agencies
and project sponsors is critical to ensuring the timely and
effective completion of environmental reviews and
authorizations, including through the sharing of relevant
information, alignment of environmental review timelines, and
integration of authorizations, while maintaining compliance
with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;
(2) digital strategies for environmental reviews have
proven to make the community engagement process more
accessible, available, and transparent to all stakeholders,
especially the communities in which new projects are built;
(3) establishing robust data architectures will ensure data
integrity, improve transparency, reduce costs, and enhance
the ability of the Federal Government to serve the public;
(4) Federal agency use of modern software that can track
the full lifecycle of environmental reviews and
authorizations is critical for--
(A) effective project management and process improvement;
(B) enabling workflow automation, transparency, and
tracking; and
(C) simplifying reporting requirements;
(5) modern business process management systems that track
Federal agency workflows and produce vendor neutral,
interoperable event, task, and other milestone data that can
be shared with other Federal agency systems can reduce costs
and improve performance for Federal agencies responsible for
environmental reviews and authorizations;
(6) case and project management systems--
(A) are essential tools for managing the tasks and
activities associated with environmental reviews and
authorizations; and
(B) provide Federal agencies more data and insight into
such environmental reviews and authorizations;
(7) well-defined business rules can enable process
automation that allows Federal agencies responsible for
environmental reviews or authorizations to expedite routine
tasks and workflows, and improve transparency and accuracy of
project timeline estimates, which in turn can help project
sponsors better plan for application preparation and project
delivery milestones;
(8) taking a standardized, digital-first perspective to
environmental reviews and authorizations at Federal agencies
responsible for environmental reviews or authorizations will
improve document quality, lead to more concise reports,
enable the reuse and accessibility of the data underpinning
Federal agency analyses and decisions, and enable objective,
technology-assisted evaluation of environmental impacts,
analysis, and documentation, and accelerate future
environmental reviews and authorizations;
(9) Federal agencies responsible for environmental reviews
or authorizations, project sponsors, and the public should
have access to up-to-date information on accurate timelines
and the status of environmental reviews and authorizations;
and
(10) allowing for seamless information exchange among
Federal agencies and between Federal agencies and project
sponsors will increase predictability and efficiency of
environmental review and authorization schedules for project
sponsors.
(b) Establishment of Data Standards.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality, in consultation with the Federal
Permitting Improvement Steering Council, the Chief
Information Officers Council, the Office of Management and
Budget, and other relevant stakeholders and Federal agencies,
shall develop, publish, and iteratively update data standards
for the collection and curation of authorization data by
Federal agencies, which shall be used to--
(A) assist with environmental reviews and authorizations;
(B) organize, define, and standardize various concepts,
formats, and protocols that are included in environmental
reviews and authorizations; and
(C) reduce the need for redundant environmental reviews by
creating a shared vocabulary and software systems that will
support vendor neutrality, data interoperability, workflow
automation, and automatic data exchange between Federal
agencies.
(2) Inclusions.--The data standards developed, published,
and iteratively updated under paragraph (1) shall include the
following:
(A) A standardized taxonomy that allows Federal agencies to
identify and track data types, relationships, and values.
(B) Comprehensive categories for data, such as--
(i) projects;
(ii) processes;
(iii) environmental documents;
(iv) public comments;
(v) geospatial information;
(vi) public engagement events, as applicable by process or
Federal agency;
(vii) case events; and
(viii) milestones to ensure clarity and uniformity.
(c) Development of Prototype Tools.--The Chair of the
Council on Environmental Quality, in consultation with the
Administrator of General Services, the Federal Permitting
Improvement Steering Council, the Chief Information Officers
Council, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,
and other relevant stakeholders and Federal agencies, shall
design, test, and build prototype tools for environmental
reviews and authorizations that will assist Federal agencies
in implementing the minimum functional requirements described
in subsection (d). The Chair of the Council on Environmental
Quality shall prioritize designing, testing, and building
tools under this subsection that--
(1) support authorization case or project management
systems that manage tasks, milestones, and activities
associated with environmental reviews and authorizations, and
provide Federal agencies more data and insight into such
reviews and authorizations;
(2) enable--
(A) application submission and tracking portals used by
project sponsors, enabling greater transparency; and
(B) public comment opportunity tracking portals to increase
transparency;
(3) facilitate automated applications, environmental
reviews. and authorizations;
(4) allow data exchange between Federal agency systems; and
(5) accelerate complex environmental reviews.
(d) Publication of Guidance for Implementation of Data
Standards and Minimum Functional Requirements.--
(1) Publication.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality shall publish guidance for how each
Federal agency responsible for environmental reviews or
authorizations implements--
(A) the data standards published under subsection (b); and
(B) the following minimum functional requirements:
(i) Application data sharing that enables automated
transfer of relevant environmental review and authorization
data among Federal agencies.
(ii) Automated project screening to assist frontline staff
with reviewing project sponsor provided information for
completeness and accuracy and determining if a categorical
exclusion or other general authorization applies to an
action. Automated project screening may not be used by the
Council on Environmental Quality or a Federal agency to
unlawfully restrict any activities on Federal lands.
(iii) Public availability of screening criteria and related
decision models.
(iv) Automated case or project management tools which
include a repository of relevant data and metadata that
enable advanced tracking, reporting, and optimization to aid
workflows.
(v) Integrated geographic information system analysis tools
which incorporate geospatial data layers and models for each
resource analyzed as part of an environmental review or
authorization for a given study area.
(vi) Document management tools that preserve metadata
associated with geospatial analysis, modeling, and other
analytic processes conducted during an environmental review
or authorization, to support future reviews and enable
Artificial Intelligence-assisted analysis of past decisions.
(vii) Automated comment compilation and analysis tools,
including services for comment categorization and response
that handle the lifecycle of comment submission, analysis,
categorization and response with Artificial Intelligence
support where appropriate.
(viii) Administrative record management tools that maintain
both portable document formats and data-rich repositories
accessible to both machine and human users.
(ix) Common or interoperable Federal agency services that
integrate shared services, shared applications, and common
user experiences for Federal agency staff, project sponsors,
and the public.
(2) Inclusions.--The guidance published under this
subsection shall include the following:
(A) Guidelines for cloud-based storage, data sharing
protocols, and application programming interfaces to enable
the Council on Environmental Quality to work with Federal
agencies to use authorization data to aid Federal agencies in
modernizing their environmental reviews and authorizations
and for iterative development of the authorization portal.
(B) Provisions that support scalability and adaptability of
the minimum requirements to emerging technologies.
(e) Implementation of Data Standards and Minimum Functional
Requirements.--
[[Page S3823]]
(1) Implementation.--The head of each Federal agency
responsible for environmental reviews or authorizations
shall--
(A) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act--
(i) compare existing Federal agency systems for
environmental reviews and authorizations under their
authority with the data standards published under subsection
(b) and the minimum functional requirements described in
subsection (d)(1)(B) and report findings from such comparison
to the Council on Environmental Quality;
(ii) assess whether existing Federal agency technological
capabilities are consistent with the data standards published
under subsection (b) and the minimum functional requirements
described in subsection (d)(1)(B);
(iii) submit to the Council on Environmental Quality a
report that estimates the completion dates for implementing
the data standards published under subsection (b) and the
minimum functional requirements described in subsection
(d)(1)(B); and
(iv) submit to the Council on Environmental Quality, in
consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality, an
implementation plan that--
(I) describes how the Federal agency will implement the
data standards published under subsection (b) and the minimum
functional requirements described in subsection (d)(1)(B);
and
(II) describes how, to the extent the Federal agency
determines necessary to meet relevant statutory requirements,
the Federal agency will adopt or implement the prototype
tools tested, designed, and built under subsection (c); and
(B) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, begin implementing the data standards published
under subsection (b) and the minimum functional requirements
described in subsection (d)(1)(B).
(2) Report.--Not less frequently than twice each year, the
Chief Information Officer of each Federal agency, in
consultation with the Chief Environmental Review and
Permitting Officer of each Federal agency, shall submit to
the Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget a report on the progress of
the Federal agency towards meeting the requirements of
paragraph (1).
(f) Unified Interagency Data System.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Unified interagency data system.--To the maximum extent
practicable, the Chair of the Council of Environmental
Quality and the head of each Federal agency responsible for
environmental reviews or authorizations shall iteratively
develop and maintain a unified interagency data system
consisting of interconnected Federal agency systems and
shared services for environmental reviews and authorizations.
(B) Authorization portal.--
(i) In general.--The shared services developed and
maintained under subparagraph (A) shall include a common
interactive, digital, cloud-based authorization portal, which
shall--
(I) be designed in a manner consistent with--
(aa) the recommendations of the Council on Environmental
Quality included in the study submitted pursuant to section
110 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4336d) titled ``Council on Environmental Quality
Report to Congress on the Potential for Online and Digital
Technologies to Address Delays in Reviews and Improve Public
Accessibility and Transparency under 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)'';
and
(bb) the minimum functional requirements described in
subsection (d)(1)(B);
(II) serve as a platform for tracking and displaying real-
time data on environmental reviews and authorizations made
available through application programming interfaces or other
reporting mechanisms from Federal agency systems that are
compliant with the data standards and data architecture
described in this section;
(III) be supported by a decentralized, cross-network
digital infrastructure software that ensures vendor
neutrality and interoperability of data and models across
Federal agencies;
(IV) include a mechanism for the dissemination of relevant
information (such as a notice of intent for public comment,
public meetings, project statuses, or a notice of intent to
begin an environmental review) to local communities, as
applicable;
(V) allow a project sponsor to submit all necessary
documentation for environmental reviews and authorizations in
one unified and secure portal;
(VI) support interactive, digital, and cloud-based tools
enabling applicants to edit documents and collaborate with
relevant Federal agencies in real time;
(VII) support visual features, including video, animation,
geographic information system displays, interactive maps, and
three-dimensional renderings;
(VIII) provide for the exchange of information to and from
Federal agency data systems via an application programming
interface or another reporting mechanisms;
(IX) allow for the submission of geospatial data associated
with project location, footprint, and impact;
(X) support automatic documentation of submission and
process timelines; and
(XI) allow the following metrics to be tracked over time--
(aa) estimates of achieved efficiencies, such as reductions
in the time between receipt of applications and final
authorization decisions;
(bb) comparisons of authorization timelines before and
after the implementation of this section;
(cc) usage of the authorization portal and other statistics
from the Digital Analytics Program;
(dd) metrics on the number of public comments received,
responses provided, and community meetings held;
(ee) the number of projects subject to litigation based on
authorization deficiencies or inefficiencies;
(ff) a list of Federal agencies that are not yet fully
compliant with the data standards published under subsection
(b) and the minimum functional requirements described in
subsection (d)(1)(B), along with their progress toward
compliance; and
(gg) examples or repositories of Federal agency-developed
digital workflows enabled by the implementation of this
section, including visualizations of data sharing,
authorizations and decision logic, and environmental reviews.
(ii) Administrative support.--The Administrator of General
Services shall host the authorization portal as a shared
service for Congress, Federal agencies, and the public.
(iii) Accessability.--The authorization portal shall be
accessible to Congress, Federal agencies, and the public,
with appropriate safeguards to protect sensitive or
classified information and information restricted by user
type as appropriate.
(iv) Public accessibility.--To the extent practicable and
consistent with other law, the authorization portal shall
provide public access to non-sensitive data, including
authorization timelines, location, project type,
environmental reviews, and mitigation measures.
(v) Congressional access and oversight.--
(I) In general.--The authorization portal shall provide
Congress with direct access to aggregated performance data
and other analytics to enable real-time oversight of Federal
agencies.
(II) Artificial intelligence support systems and training
materials.--Congress shall have access to the data, fine-
tuning procedures, and prompt configurations specifically
created or adapted for Artificial Intelligence systems used
to support environmental review or authorization activities,
excluding proprietary or general pretraining materials
unrelated to such agency-specific customization.
(III) Technical assistance.--The Council on Environmental
Quality shall provide to Congress technical assistance upon
request to ensure effective use of the authorization portal
and Artificial Intelligence systems for oversight purposes.
(C) Cybersecurity and compliance considerations.--The
authorization portal shall be designed to promote vendor
neutral interoperability, reduce redundancy, and ensure
compliance and coordination with other laws, including--
(i) section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly
referred to as the Privacy Act of 1974), and subchapter II of
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code;
(ii) the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program
established under section 3608 of title 44, United States
Code; and
(iii) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
of the Department of Homeland Security, for a case in which
the project is in coordination with a Federal agency with
stringent security requirements.
(2) Deadlines.--
(A) Shared services pilot.--Not later than one year after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Council on
Environmental Quality shall oversee piloting of shared
services for environmental reviews and authorizations,
including the authorization portal under paragraph (1)(B).
(B) Unified system development and implementation.--To the
maximum extent practicable, not later than December 1, 2027,
the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall
develop and implement the unified interagency data system
required under paragraph (1)(A).
(3) Report.--Not less frequently than annually, the Chair
of the Council on Environmental Quality, in consultation with
the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, the
Chief Information Officers Council, and other relevant
stakeholders and Federal agencies, shall submit to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public
Works of the Senate a report on the Council on Environmental
Quality's progress on developing a unified interagency data
system under paragraph (1)(A).
(g) Authority to Enter Into Contracts.--The Council on
Environmental Quality may enter into contracts and other
arrangements for analyses, services, and products with
Federal agencies, private organizations, and businesses, and
make such payments as determined necessary by the Council on
Environmental Quality to carry out the provisions of this
section.
(h) Clarifying Rulemaking Authority.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed to authorize the Council on
Environmental Quality or a Federal agency to impose
additional regulatory processes or requirements beyond those
expressly stipulated under the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or any other law.
(i) Savings Clause.--To the extent that a data system,
technology, or tool developed or incorporated into a unified
interagency
[[Page S3824]]
data system under this section is not limited by project
type, the data system, technology, or tool shall not have its
use be restricted by project type.
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Authorization.--The term ``authorization'' means any
license, permit, approval, finding, determination, or other
administrative decision issued by an agency and any
interagency consultation that is required or authorized under
Federal law in order to site, construct, reconstruct, or
commence operations of a project administered by a Federal
agency.
(2) Authorization data.--The term ``authorization data''
means--
(A) any data relevant for a Federal agency to--
(i) determine the effect on the environment of an action
for which an authorization is required by the Federal agency;
and
(ii) determine whether to issue such authorization; and
(B) any community input or public comment on such
determinations.
(3) Data architecture.--The term ``data architecture''
means the design and organization of data systems, including
frameworks for data storage, processing, and exchange.
(4) Data standards.--The term ``data standards'' means
agreed-upon specifications for data formats, structures, and
definitions to ensure consistency and vendor neutral
interoperability.
(5) Environmental review.--The term ``environmental
review'' means any Federal agency procedures or processes
for--
(A) applying a categorical exclusion; or
(B) preparing an environmental assessment, an environmental
impact statement, or another document required under the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.).
(6) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the
meaning given the term ``agency'' in section 551 of title 5,
United States Code.
(7) Federal permitting improvement steering council.--The
term ``Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council'' has
the meaning given the term ``Council'' in section 41001 of
the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m).
______