Rebuild America Now Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1518 To improve the processes by which environmental documents are prepared and permits and applications are processed and regulated by Federal departments and agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To improve the processes by which environmental documents are prepared and permits and applications are processed and regulated by Federal departments and agencies, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Rebuild America Now Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1518 IS TITLE I—ENVIRONMENTAL AND PROJECT REVIEW MODERNIZATION Sec. 101. Expansion of State responsibility for categorical exclusions. Sec. 102. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 reform. Sec. 103. Designation of categorical exclusions for emergency projects and structurally deficient infrastructure. Sec. 104. Categorical exclusion for projects of limited Federal assistance. Sec. 105. Simplifying environmental documents. Sec. 106. Permittee bill of rights. Sec. 107. Policy review under Clean Air Act. TITLE II—JUDICIAL PROVISIONS Sec. 201. Deadline for filing energy-related causes of action. Sec. 202. Limiting sue and settle practices. TITLE III—NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PERMITTING EFFICIENCY Sec. 301. Regulatory approval of natural gas pipeline projects. Sec. 302. Rights-of-way for public utilities. TITLE IV—TRANSPORTATION CONFORMITY REFORM Sec. 401. Limitations on certain Federal assistance under Clean Air Act. Sec. 402. Study on transportation air quality conformity under Clean Air Act. TITLE V—INCREASING STATE AUTHORITY AND COLLABORATION IN REVIEWING TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS Sec. 501. Federal-State project agreements. Sec. 502. Project approval and oversight for high risk projects. Sec. 503. Advance acquisition of real property. Sec. 504. Agreements relating to use of, and access to, rights-of-way on Inter- state System. TITLE I—ENVIRONMENTAL AND 1 PROJECT REVIEW MOD- 2 ERNIZATION 3 SEC. 101. EXPANSION OF STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CAT- 4 EGORICAL EXCLUSIONS. 5 Section 326 of title 23, United States Code, is 6 amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a)— 8 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘certain 9 designated activities are included within classes 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1518 IS of action identified in regulation by the Sec- 1 retary that are’’ and inserting ‘‘any activity is 2 included within a class of action identified in a 3 regulation by the Secretary that is’’; and 4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and 5 only for types of activities specifically des- 6 ignated by the Secretary’’; and 7 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘(includ- 8 ing the responsibility for making conformity deter- 9 minations under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 10 et seq.))’’ after ‘‘categorical exclusions’’. 11 SEC. 102. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 12 REFORM. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Environmental Pol- 14 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is amended by 15 adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘TITLE III—INTERAGENCY CO- 17 ORDINATION RELATING TO 18 PERMITTING 19 ‘‘SEC. 301. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION RELATING TO 20 PERMITTING. 21 ‘‘(a) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU- 22 MENTS.—An agency or other entity seeking approval of, 23 or otherwise responsible for carrying out, a project (re- 24 ferred to in this section as the ‘project sponsor’), may pre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1518 IS pare an environmental impact statement or environmental 1 assessment for the purpose of an environmental review in 2 support of the project for approval by the lead agency of 3 the project if, before the project sponsor takes any action 4 or seeks any approval based on the environmental docu- 5 ment, the lead agency— 6 ‘‘(1) provides oversight in the preparation of 7 the environmental impact statement or environ- 8 mental assessment; 9 ‘‘(2) independently evaluates the environmental 10 impact statement or environmental assessment; and 11 ‘‘(3) approves, within a reasonable time, and 12 adopts the environmental impact statement or envi- 13 ronmental assessment. 14 ‘‘(b) ADOPTION AND USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOC- 15 UMENTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS 17 AND ASSESSMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 19 subparagraph (B), the lead agency shall not 20 prepare more than 1 environmental impact 21 statement and 1 environmental assessment 22 under this Act for a project. 23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation in sub- 24 paragraph (A) shall not apply to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1518 IS ‘‘(i) a supplemental environmental 1 document; or 2 ‘‘(ii) an environmental impact state- 3 ment or environmental assessment pre- 4 pared pursuant to a court order. 5 ‘‘(C) RECORD OF DECISION.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 7 vided in clause (ii), after the date on which 8 the lead agency issues a record of decision 9 for a project, the head of a Federal agency 10 responsible for approving the project shall 11 not rely on any environmental impact 12 statement or environmental assessment 13 prepared before that date. 14 ‘‘(ii) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT OF 15 LEAD AGENCY.—Notwithstanding clause 16 (i), the head of a Federal agency may rely 17 on an environmental impact statement or 18 environmental assessment prepared by the 19 lead agency after the date on which the 20 lead agency issues a record of decision for 21 the project. 22 ‘‘(D) IMPACT ANALYSIS.—On request by a 23 project sponsor, a lead agency may adopt, use, 24 or rely on a secondary or cumulative impact 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1518 IS analysis that is included in any environmental 1 impact statement or environmental assessment 2 for a project located in the geographical area 3 that is the subject of the secondary or cumu- 4 lative impact analysis, if the secondary or cu- 5 mulative impact analysis provides information 6 that is applicable to the project. 7 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 8 ‘‘(A) ADOPTION.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On request by a 10 project sponsor and subject to clause (ii), 11 a lead agency may adopt as the environ- 12 mental impact statement or environmental 13 assessment for a project an environmental 14 document prepared under State law, if the 15 State law provides environmental protec- 16 tion and an opportunity for public involve- 17 ment that is substantially similar to the 18 environmental protection and opportunity 19 for public involvement under this Act. 20 ‘‘(ii) SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A lead agen- 22 cy shall prepare and publish a supple- 23 ment to an environmental document 24 referred to in clause (i) before adopt- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1518 IS ing the State environmental document 1 if the lead agency determines that— 2 ‘‘(aa) a significant change 3 has been made to the project that 4 is relevant for purposes of the en- 5 vironmental review by the lead 6 agency; or 7 ‘‘(bb) there have been sig- 8 nificant changes in circumstances 9 or availability of information rel- 10 evant to that environmental re- 11 view. 12 ‘‘(II) PERIOD OF COMMENT.— 13 For any supplemental document pre- 14 pared and published under subclause 15 (I), the lead agency may solicit com- 16 ments from agencies and the public 17 for a period of not more than 45 days 18 beginning on the date of the publica- 19 tion. 20 ‘‘(B) OBLIGATION OF LEAD AGENCY.—The 21 adoption of an environmental document by a 22 lead agency under subparagraph (A)(i) satisfies 23 the obligation of the lead agency to prepare an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1518 IS environmental impact statement or environ- 1 mental assessment under this Act. 2 ‘‘(C) RECORD OF DECISION.—With respect 3 to a project, the lead agency shall issue a record 4 of decision or finding of no significant impact, 5 as appropriate, based on— 6 ‘‘(i) the environmental document 7 adopted under subparagraph (A)(i); and 8 ‘‘(ii) any supplemental document pre- 9 pared under subparagraph (A)(ii). 10 ‘‘(3) CONTEMPORANEOUS PROJECTS.—The lead 11 agency may adopt for a project an environmental 12 impact statement or environmental assessment that 13 resulted from an environmental review carried out 14 for a similar project in geographical proximity to the 15 project, if the lead agency— 16 ‘‘(A) determines that— 17 ‘‘(i) there is a reasonable likelihood 18 that the project will have a similar environ- 19 mental impact as the similar project; and 20 ‘‘(ii) during the 5-year period ending 21 on the date on which the lead agency 22 makes the determination, the similar 23 project was subject to environmental re- 24 view or similar State procedures; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1518 IS ‘‘(B) adopts the environmental impact 1 statement or environmental assessment in ac- 2 cordance with paragraph (2)(A). 3 ‘‘(c) COOPERATING AGENCIES.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency of a 5 project shall— 6 ‘‘(A) be responsible for designating or in- 7 viting, as applicable, cooperating agencies (with- 8 in the meaning of section 1501.6 of title 40, 9 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 10 date of enactment of this section)) in accord- 11 ance with this subsection; and 12 ‘‘(B) provide to the head of each cooper- 13 ating agency a notice of the designation or invi- 14 tation in writing. 15 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL COOPERATING AGENCIES.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 17 subparagraph (C), any Federal agency that is 18 required to adopt the environmental impact 19 statement or environmental assessment of the 20 lead agency for a project shall— 21 ‘‘(i) be designated as a cooperating 22 agency; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1518 IS ‘‘(ii) collaborate on the preparation of 1 the environmental impact statement or en- 2 vironmental assessment. 3 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—The lead agency 4 shall provide to the head of a Federal agency 5 described in subparagraph (A) a written notice 6 of designation under paragraph (1) that speci- 7 fies a date by which the head of the Federal 8 agency shall respond. 9 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub- 10 paragraph (A), the head of a Federal agency 11 may decline designation as a cooperation agency 12 if, not later than the date specified by the lead 13 agency under subparagraph (B), the head of 14 the Federal agency informs the lead agency in 15 writing that the Federal agency— 16 ‘‘(i) has no jurisdiction or authority 17 with respect to the project; 18 ‘‘(ii) has no expertise or information 19 relevant to the project; and 20 ‘‘(iii) does not intend to submit com- 21 ments on the project. 22 ‘‘(3) OTHER COOPERATING AGENCIES.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 24 identify, as early as practicable in the environ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1518 IS mental review for a project, any official or 1 agency other than an agency described in para- 2 graph (2) that may have an interest in the 3 project, including— 4 ‘‘(i) the Governor of an affected State; 5 and 6 ‘‘(ii) a local or tribal government. 7 ‘‘(B) INVITATION.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 9 shall provide a written invitation to any 10 agency or official identified under subpara- 11 graph (A) to become a cooperating agency 12 in the environmental review for the project. 13 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE REQUIRED.— 14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The invita- 15 tion described in clause (i) shall in- 16 clude a deadline, not to exceed 30 17 days after the date on which the invi- 18 tation is received, by which the invited 19 agency or official shall accept or de- 20 cline the invitation. 21 ‘‘(II) EXTENSION.—The lead 22 agency may extend the deadline under 23 subclause (I) only for good cause 24 shown. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1518 IS ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—An agency 1 or official that fails to respond to an invitation 2 under subparagraph (B)(i) before the deadline 3 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be considered 4 to have declined the invitation for designation. 5 ‘‘(D) DESIGNATION.—The lead agency 6 shall designate as a cooperating agency any 7 agency or official that accepts an invitation 8 under subparagraph (B). 9 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING COOPERATING 10 AGENCY INVITATION.—An agency or official that de- 11 clines a designation or invitation by the lead agency 12 to be a cooperating agency for a project shall be pre- 13 cluded from— 14 ‘‘(A) submitting comments on any environ- 15 mental impact statement or environmental as- 16 sessment prepared for the project; and 17 ‘‘(B) taking any action to oppose, based on 18 the environmental review, any permit, license, 19 or approval relating to the project. 20 ‘‘(5) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation 21 as a cooperating agency under this subsection does 22 not imply that the cooperating agency— 23 ‘‘(A) supports a proposed project; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1518.IS S1518 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 1 [Text truncated for display. 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