S. 3224: Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act

This bill, known as the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (SPEED Act), seeks to amend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 in various ways to streamline environmental review processes for federal projects. Here’s a summary of its key provisions:

Purpose and Intent

The main goal of the bill is to clarify and expedite the environmental review process conducted by federal agencies. It emphasizes that the act is a procedural statute, meaning it focuses on how agencies should evaluate environmental impacts rather than dictating specific environmental outcomes. Additionally, it aims to ensure that agencies consider the environmental impacts of their actions during decision-making.

NEPA Amendments

The bill makes several specific changes to the NEPA framework:

• Level of Review Determination: The criteria for determining the level of environmental review will allow for considerations of state or tribal reviews that may have already been conducted on similar projects.
• Scope of Review: Agencies may only consider effects that are closely linked to the project under review and cannot include speculative or unrelated effects.
• Timeliness of Reviews: Federal agencies are discouraged from delaying reviews based on receiving new scientific data that was not available prior to their decision timelines.
• Categorical Exclusions: The criteria for establishing categorical exclusions (which are projects that do not require detailed environmental review) are broadened, allowing more projects to potentially qualify.

Judicial Review Provisions

The bill sets stricter guidelines for judicial review of agency actions. Courts reviewing agency compliance with NEPA will have a limited role and can only rule against an agency if it can be shown that the agency abused its discretion. This aims to reduce the number of legal challenges affecting project timelines.

Programmatic Environmental Documents

The bill suggests extending the validity period for programmatic environmental documents from five to ten years, allowing for a longer timeframe for certain projects to proceed without needing a complete re-evaluation.

Duties of the Council

Changes will also apply to the duties of the Council on Environmental Quality, particularly concerning the scope of issues (like energy) that they consider in their guidelines.

Deadlines and Limitations

To encourage quicker resolutions, the bill proposes:

• Setting deadlines for courts to resolve any environmental claims, with a preference for completion within 180 days.
• Limiting the timeframe for filing claims against agency actions, ensuring they must be filed promptly after public announcement.

Relevant Companies

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