[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6129 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6129
To require the Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual
report on environmental reviews and causes of action based on
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and for
other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 1, 2023
Mr. Yakym (for himself and Mr. Panetta) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
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A BILL
To require the Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual
report on environmental reviews and causes of action based on
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 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 ``Studying NEPA's Impact on Projects
Act''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON NEPA'S IMPACT ON PROJECTS.
Section 201 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4341) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORT ON NEPA'S IMPACT ON PROJECTS.
``(a) Report Required.--Beginning July 1, 2024, the Council on
Environmental Quality shall annually publish on the website of the
Council on Environmental Quality, and submit to Congress, a report on--
``(1) each cause of action based on compliance with this
Act filed during the period beginning June 1 of the preceding
year and ending June 1 of the current year, which shall
identify--
``(A) with respect to each such cause of action,
the lead defendant Federal agency and the lead
plaintiff;
``(B) the number of such causes of action,
disaggregated by the lead defendant Federal agency;
``(C) the alleged basis for each such cause of
action, disaggregated by type; and
``(D) the status and outcome, if applicable, of
each cause of action based on compliance with this Act
filed during the period beginning June 1 of the
preceding year and ending June 1 of the current year,
including whether--
``(i) the cause of action resulted in the
major Federal action being reversed;
``(ii) the lead defendant Federal agency
was allowed to move forward with the major
Federal action;
``(iii) the court issued a ruling directing
the lead defendant Federal agency to take
additional measures to be in compliance;
``(iv) the lead plaintiff and the lead
defendant Federal agency settled amongst
themselves; and
``(v) the cause of action is still in
progress;
``(2) the length of environmental impact statements
prepared pursuant to section 102(2)(C) during the period of 5
years that ends on June 1 of the current year, which shall
include--
``(A) the average and median page count of each
draft and final environmental impact statement
(including the appendix) published in the Federal
Register during such period of 5 years, including such
page counts disaggregated by quartiles;
``(B) the number of draft and final environmental
impact statements published in the Federal Register
during such period of 5 years, disaggregated by lead
Federal agency and subagency as applicable; and
``(C) a description of trends in average and median
page count of draft and final environmental impact
statements published in the Federal Register during
such period of 5 years compared to prior reports
published by the Council on Environmental Quality; and
``(3) the timelines to complete environmental reviews
pursuant to section 102(2)(C) during the period of 10 years
that ends on June 1 of the current year, which shall include--
``(A) with respect to each major Federal action
commenced during such period of 10 years, the date on
which (as applicable)--
``(i) the notice of intent to prepare the
environmental impact statement was published in
the Federal Register;
``(ii) the draft environmental impact
statement was published in the Federal
Register;
``(iii) the final environmental impact
statement was published in the Federal
Register; and
``(iv) the record of decision was published
in the Federal Register;
``(B) the average and median publication timelines
during such period of 10 years for each document
described in subparagraph (A); and
``(C) a description of trends in completion times
during such period of 10 years for such documents
compared to prior reports published by the Council on
Environmental Quality.
``(b) Public Availability of Data.--The Council on Environmental
Quality shall publish with each report published under subsection (a)
the underlying data used to prepare each such report.''.
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