The SPEED Act would change parts of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It adds new language about the law's purpose and says NEPA is a procedural statute that does not require particular environmental outcomes. The bill narrows what environmental effects agencies must consider, saying agencies may only consider effects that are proximately caused by the immediate project and not speculative or far removed in time or place. It adds that agencies may rely on State or Tribal reviews or other statutes that serve a similar function. The bill updates categorical exclusion rules, extends the shelf life of programmatic environmental documents from 5 to 10 years, and adds some types of financial assistance and permits to exclusions. It limits when agencies must consider new scientific or technical information by tying that review to the date of an application or the date a notice of intent is published. The bill also adds new judicial review rules: courts may only find procedural NEPA violations if the agency abused substantial discretion and would have reached a different result; courts must generally remand with specific instructions and short deadlines; some final NEPA documents are not treated as final agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act; and there are shorter filing and decision deadlines for claims and appeals.
If you apply for a federal permit or work on a project that needs NEPA review, this bill would change how agencies decide what to study and how long reviews can last. Agencies would focus on direct, closely linked effects of a project. Agencies could use earlier State or Tribal reviews or other laws instead of doing a full NEPA study. New scientific information that appears after an application or notice might not have to be considered. If someone challenges an agency decision in court, the rules for filing, timing, and what courts can do would be different and narrower than current procedures.
No publicly available information.
The bill states its purpose is to clarify ambiguous NEPA provisions and to make environmental review more efficient, effective, and timely. It describes NEPA as a procedural statute that requires federal agencies to consider environmental impacts during decisionmaking but does not mandate particular results.
No publicly available information.