Sponsor
John Joyce
Representative · R-PA
Representative · R-PA
This bill trades faster, lower-cost federal project and permitting processes for state/local governments and regulated applicants against reduced CEQ-mediated environmental oversight, which could weaken interagency review, public input, and protections for air quality and communities.
States, local governments, and regulated applicants (e.g., utilities and energy companies) will face fewer CEQ referrals and narrower referral triggers, which should speed federal decision timelines and reduce administrative costs for project approvals and permit-related processes.
Federal agencies and regulated entities gain greater procedural predictability and fewer opportunities for cross-agency referral delays, reducing a potential source of project hold-ups and duplicative review steps.
Communities (rural and urban) and health systems could lose a federal review pathway for EPA objections, reducing oversight that helps protect air quality and public health when major projects or regulations raise concerns.
Removing terms like 'action' and 'regulation' from the statute narrows CEQ referral triggers and can limit federal coordination on the environmental impacts of agency rules and major actions, weakening environmental review and protections.
Less oversight and fewer referral opportunities increase the risk that large infrastructure projects proceed without adequate interagency environmental review, potentially increasing pollution exposure in some neighborhoods.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Narrows a Clean Air Act review provision so EPA no longer automatically reviews certain federal construction/major actions tied to NEPA and proposed federal regulations.
Amends the Clean Air Act review provision to remove federal review coverage of newly authorized federal construction projects/major federal agency actions tied to NEPA and to remove proposed regulations from the list of items subject to EPA review, while also deleting the words “action, or regulation” from a related subsection. In short, it narrows the scope of statutory review and commentary that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can provide on certain federal projects and proposed regulations. The change is achieved by striking portions of the existing statutory text rather than only making punctuation edits, which reduces the set of federal activities and documents that trigger the EPA review duty under that Clean Air Act provision. That will speed or limit review for some federal actions but also reduces an avenue for EPA input on air quality implications and may raise legal and public-health concerns.
Official title: RED Tape Act
Introduced December 3, 2025 by John Joyce · Last progress April 17, 2026