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119-s-2226119th Congress

Necessary Environmental Exemptions for Defense Act

Sponsored By: Senator Cotton, Tom [R-AR]

Introduced

Summary

Creates a broad environmental exemption for the Department of Defense. This bill would let the Department, its components, contractors, or designees skip NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for activities certified as directly related to countering the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

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  • Department of Defense and contractors: Would authorize exemptions for activities in four specified categories, including readiness and training, facility construction or repair, and development or testing of defense or commercial technologies tied to Department agreements.
  • State and local officials: Federal, State, or local environmental reviews or evaluations may not be required as substitutes for compliance with the exempted laws for certified projects, limiting local permitting or review roles.
  • Environment and species: The statutory protections in the listed laws would not apply to certified activities, though the Secretary can still require environmental mitigations and must review best practices and update Department policy every five years.
  • Courts and legal challenges: The bill bars judicial review or injunction of certifications and applies retroactively to ongoing activities, nullifying pending legal or administrative actions related to those laws.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Defense Department exempt from environmental laws

This bill would let the Department of Defense, its components, contractors, or designees skip NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act when the President or the Secretary of Defense certifies an activity is directly related to countering the Chinese Communist Party. Covered work would include training and operations, building or repairing Defense facilities, and developing, testing, or producing Defense or contract-related commercial technologies needed for critical national security interests. States and localities would not be able to require substitute environmental reviews. Courts would be barred from reviewing or stopping certified actions. The exemption would apply to activities already underway on enactment and would nullify related pending legal or administrative cases. The Secretary of Defense would still be able to require environmental mitigations and would have to review and update mitigation policy within five years and at least every five years afterward. If enacted, these changes would take effect upon enactment.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Cotton, Tom [R-AR]

AR • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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