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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Introduced April 8, 2025 by Bill Cassidy · Last progress April 8, 2025
Sets new limits and procedures for judicial review of federal project approvals: defines key terms, narrows who can sue, and directs courts to remand authorizations rather than vacate them in most cases. It requires a Council-led mediation and remediation process with deadlines, creates a public database and reporting requirements to track review timelines, and adds a provision to NEPA that bars private lawsuits under NEPA or the Administrative Procedure Act against authorizations that used an applicable environmental review. Overall, the bill shifts dispute resolution toward administrative mediation and quicker court timelines, reduces the risk that a court will fully invalidate a project approval, and creates new transparency and case-management rules for permits and authorizations that used covered environmental reviews.
Agency — The term "agency" has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
Agency of jurisdiction — Any agency that is responsible for approving an authorization under authorizing legislation.
Authorization — Any license, permit, authorization, approval, variance, consultation, finding, or other administrative decision (including extensions) that is required or authorized under Federal law (including regulations) to design, plan, site, construct, reconstruct, commence operations of, modify, or operate a project.
Authorizing legislation — A list of Federal laws that count as "authorizing legislation." The section enumerates a set of statutes (subsections A through W) including, for example, the Clean Air Act; provisions of title 33 (Clean Water Act); the Natural Gas Act; the Federal Power Act; the National Historic Preservation Act; the Endangered Species Act; the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act; the Marine Mammal Protection Act; the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act; the Safe Drinking Water Act (as it relates to State primacy and underground injection control programs); the Deepwater Port Act of 1974; the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970; the National Forest Management Act; the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act; the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978; and any other Federal law requiring an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Council — The term "Council" means the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council established by section 41002(a) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m–1(a)).
Primary impacts
Federal agencies: Must follow new dispute-resolution steps, participate in Council-led mediation/remediation, collect and report data to the new public database, and adapt to new venue and case-assignment rules. These duties create administrative workload and require coordination across agencies.
Project applicants, sponsors, and developers: Gain greater predictability and lower risk that a court will vacate an approval, which reduces project delay risk and financing uncertainty. They may still face remedies (remand and corrective steps) but are less likely to have approvals fully set aside.
Environmental, community, and advocacy groups: Face narrower access to court remedies. Limitations on standing and the shift from vacatur to remand may reduce litigation leverage to stop or substantially alter projects, potentially diminishing legal recourse for alleged harms.
Courts and litigants: Federal courts will apply new venue and case-assignment rules and will be directed to impose remand-favoring remedies in many circumstances. That changes litigation strategy, potential settlement dynamics, and the practical enforcement of environmental laws.
Public transparency and oversight: The required public database increases visibility into review timelines and litigation outcomes, which could aid accountability but relies on accurate and timely agency reporting.
Broader consequences
Net effect
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Introduced in Senate
Expand sections to see detailed analysis