RESTART Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1449 To improve the environmental review process, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To improve the environmental review process, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing the Econ- 4 omy by Simplifying Timelines and Assuring Regulatory 5 Transparency Act’’ or the ‘‘RESTART Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1449 IS SEC. 2. MODERNIZING THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 1 POLICY ACT OF 1969. 2 (a) EXISTING NEPA REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 4 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 9 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 10 (A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the re- 11 quirements of this Act and except as provided 12 by any other provision of law,’’ before ‘‘include 13 in every’’; 14 (B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 15 inserting the following: 16 ‘‘(i) a reasonable number of alter- 17 natives to the major Federal action and ef- 18 fects of those alternatives, including an 19 analysis of any negative effects of not im- 20 plementing the major Federal action in the 21 case of a no action alternative; 22 ‘‘(ii) the relationship between local 23 short-term uses of the human environment 24 and the maintenance and enhancement of 25 long-term productivity; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(iii) any irreversible and irretrievable 1 commitments of Federal resources that 2 would be involved in the major Federal ac- 3 tion if the action is implemented.’’; and 4 (C) in the undesignated matter following 5 clause (iii) (as so amended), in the second sen- 6 tence, by striking ‘‘the responsible Federal offi- 7 cial’’ and inserting ‘‘the head of the Federal 8 lead agency’’; 9 (4) in subparagraph (D)— 10 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 11 striking ‘‘official, if:’’ and inserting ‘‘official 12 if—’’; 13 (B) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by strik- 14 ing the comma at the end and inserting a semi- 15 colon; 16 (C) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, and’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 18 (D) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 19 the end and inserting a semicolon; 20 (5) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 21 through (I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), re- 22 spectively; 23 (6) by inserting after the undesignated matter 24 following subparagraph (C) the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, in- 1 cluding scientific integrity, of the discussion 2 and analysis in an environmental document; 3 ‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and 4 resources in carrying out this Act;’’; 5 (7) by striking subparagraph (G) (as so redes- 6 ignated) and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(G) consistent with the requirements of 8 this Act, study, develop, and describe tech- 9 nically feasible alternatives in the jurisdiction 10 and authority of the Federal agency;’’; and 11 (8) in subparagraph (H) (as so redesignated), 12 by inserting ‘‘consistent with the requirements of 13 this Act,’’ before ‘‘recognize’’. 14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—The National Environmental Pol- 15 icy Act of 1969 is amended by inserting after section 2 16 (42 U.S.C. 4321) the following: 17 ‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 ‘‘In this Act: 19 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE.—The term ‘alternative’ 20 means an agency action, other than a proposed 21 agency action, that— 22 ‘‘(A) is technically and economically fea- 23 sible; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(B) is within the jurisdiction of the Fed- 1 eral agency; 2 ‘‘(C) meets the purpose and need of the 3 proposed agency action; and 4 ‘‘(D) meets the goals of the project spon- 5 sor. 6 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (B), the term ‘authorization’ 9 means any license, permit, approval, finding, 10 determination, or other administrative decision 11 issued by a Federal agency that is required or 12 authorized under Federal law to implement a 13 proposed agency action. 14 ‘‘(B) PROGRAMMATIC OR PLANNING AC- 15 TIONS.—The term ‘authorization’, with respect 16 to a proposed agency action that is a pro- 17 grammatic or planning action, does not include 18 a site-specific decision that is intended to imple- 19 ment that action at a later date. 20 ‘‘(3) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term 21 ‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 22 that a Federal agency has determined, according to 23 procedures established by the Federal agency, do not 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1449 IS normally have a significant effect on the human en- 1 vironment. 2 ‘‘(4) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘co- 3 operating agency’ means any Federal agency or 4 State, Tribal, or local agency that has been des- 5 ignated as a cooperating agency under section 6 111(a)(4). 7 ‘‘(5) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 8 Council on Environmental Quality. 9 ‘‘(6) EFFECTS.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘effects’ 11 means changes to the human environment as a 12 result of a proposed agency action or an alter- 13 native, as applicable, to be carried out by a 14 Federal agency that— 15 ‘‘(i) are reasonably foreseeable, includ- 16 ing changes that may occur not later than 17 10 years after the date on which the lead 18 agency begins preparing an environmental 19 document in an area directly affected by 20 the proposed agency action or alternative, 21 as applicable, such that an individual of or- 22 dinary prudence would take such occur- 23 rence into account in reaching a decision; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(ii) have a proximate causal relation- 1 ship to the proposed agency action or an 2 alternative, as applicable. 3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—For purposes of 4 subparagraph (A)(ii), a ‘but for’ causal rela- 5 tionship is insufficient to establish a proximate 6 causal relationship. 7 ‘‘(7) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 8 term ‘environmental assessment’ means a concise 9 public document prepared by a Federal agency to 10 determine whether to prepare an environmental im- 11 pact statement or a finding of no significant impact 12 for a proposed agency action. 13 ‘‘(8) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 14 ‘environmental document’ includes an environmental 15 assessment, a finding of no significant impact, a no- 16 tice of intent, and an environmental impact state- 17 ment. 18 ‘‘(9) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 19 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 20 detailed statement required to be prepared for a 21 major Federal action significantly affecting the qual- 22 ity of the human environment in accordance with 23 title I. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(10) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—The term 1 ‘environmental review’ means the process of pre- 2 paring, for a proposed agency action in accordance 3 with this Act, an environmental impact statement, 4 an environmental assessment, a categorical exclu- 5 sion, a finding of no significant impact, or a record 6 of decision. 7 ‘‘(11) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal 8 agency’ has the meaning given the term ‘agency’ in 9 section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 10 ‘‘(12) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 11 The term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 12 document prepared by a Federal agency briefly pre- 13 senting the reasons why a proposed agency action, 14 not subject to a categorical exclusion— 15 ‘‘(A) will not have a significant effect on 16 the human environment; and 17 ‘‘(B) will not have an environmental im- 18 pact statement prepared for the action. 19 ‘‘(13) INVOLVED FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 20 ‘involved Federal agency’ means a Federal agency 21 that, with respect to a proposed agency action— 22 ‘‘(A) proposed the action; or 23 ‘‘(B) is involved in the action because the 24 action is directly related, through functional 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1449 IS interdependence or geographic proximity, to an 1 action the Federal agency has taken or has pro- 2 posed to take. 3 ‘‘(14) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 4 means the agency or agencies, in the case of joint 5 lead agencies, preparing or having taken primary re- 6 sponsibility for carrying out any requirements relat- 7 ing to an environmental review for a proposed agen- 8 cy action pursuant to this Act. 9 ‘‘(15) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed- 11 eral action’ means an action that the Federal 12 agency carrying out the action determines is 13 subject to substantial Federal control and re- 14 sponsibility. 15 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘major Fed- 16 eral action’ does not include— 17 ‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 18 ‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 19 funding; 20 ‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 21 involvement where a Federal agency 22 cannot control the outcome of the 23 project; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(III) that does not include Fed- 1 eral land; 2 ‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 3 form of general revenue sharing funds that 4 do not provide Federal agency compliance 5 or enforcement responsibility over the sub- 6 sequent use of those funds; 7 ‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 8 forms of financial assistance where a Fed- 9 eral agency does not exercise sufficient 10 control and responsibility over the effect of 11 the action; 12 ‘‘(iv) farm ownership and operating 13 loan guarantees by the Farm Service 14 Agency pursuant to sections 305 and 311 15 through 319 of the Consolidated Farm and 16 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1925, 17 1941–1949); 18 ‘‘(v) business loan guarantees pro- 19 vided by the Small Business Administra- 20 tion pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of 21 section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 22 U.S.C. 636), or title V of the Small Busi- 23 ness Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 24 695 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1449 IS ‘‘(vi) bringing judicial or administra- 1 tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 2 or 3 ‘‘(vii) extraterritorial activities or deci- 4 sions, including agency activities or deci- 5 sions with effects located entirely outside 6 of the jurisdiction of the United States. 7 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION.—An agency action 8 may not be determined to be a major Federal 9 action solely on the basis of— 10 ‘‘(i) an interstate effect of the action 11 or related project; or 12 ‘‘(ii) the provision of Federal funds 13 for the action or related project. 14 ‘‘(16) NOTICE OF INTENT.—The term ‘notice of 15 intent’ means a public notice that a Federal agency 16 intends to prepare and consider an environmental 17 impact statement for a proposed agency action. 18 ‘‘(17) PAGE.—The term ‘page’ means a page 19 that contains not more than 500 words, not includ- 20 ing any explanatory maps, diagrams, graphs, tables, 21 or other means of graphically displaying quantitative 22 or geospatial information. 23 ‘‘(18) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘project 24 sponsor’ means the agency or other entity, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1449 IS any private or public-private entity, that seeks an 1 authorization for a proposed agency action. 2 ‘‘(19) PROPOSED AGENCY ACTION.—The term 3 ‘proposed agency action’ means an action at a stage 4 when a Federal agency— 5 ‘‘(A) has a goal; 6 ‘‘(B) is actively preparing to make a deci- 7 sion on 1 or more alternatives to accomplish 8 that goal; and 9 ‘‘(C) can meaningfully evaluate the effects 10 of the action. 11 ‘‘(20) SPECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 12 expertise’, with respect to a proposed agency action, 13 means— 14 ‘‘(A) having statutory responsibility; 15 ‘‘(B) that the proposed agency action 16 aligns with the mission of a Federal agency; or 17 ‘‘(C) having related program experience re- 18 lating to that proposed agency action.’’. 19 (c) PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 20 REVIEW.—Title I of the National Environmental Policy 21 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) is amended by add- 22 ing at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1449.IS S1449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1449 IS ‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 1 REVIEW. 2 ‘‘(a) THRESHOLD DETERMINATIONS.—A Federal 3 agency shall not be required to prepare an environmental 4 document with respect to a proposed agency action if— 5 ‘‘(1) the proposed agency action is not a final 6 agency action (within the meaning of chapter 5 of 7 title 5, United States Code); 8 ‘‘(2) the proposed agency action is covered by 9 a categorical exclusion established by the agency, a 10 Federal agency, or any other provision of law; 11 ‘‘(3) the preparation of an environmental docu- 12 ment would clearly and fundamentally conflict with 13 the requirements of another provision of law; 14 ‘‘(4) the proposed agency action is, in whole or 15 in part, a nondiscretionary action with respect to 16 which the agency does n [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]