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119-s-3224119th Congress

SPEED Act

Sponsored By: Senator Kennedy, John [R-LA]

Introduced

Summary

Streamline NEPA reviews by making the law strictly procedural and limiting what environmental effects agencies must analyze. The SPEED Act would speed timelines, broaden categorical exclusions, and let agencies rely on prior state or tribal reviews when they meet NEPA standards.

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  • Project sponsors would get faster, more predictable federal review timelines and fewer opportunities for later delays. Programmatic environmental documents could cover projects for up to 10 years instead of 5 years.
  • Federal agencies and cooperating entities would face narrower procedural duties. Agencies could decline new scientific or technical research unless it is essential to choosing between alternatives and could not rescind or alter NEPA documents except by court order.
  • States and tribes could substitute their environmental reviews when a lead agency finds them equivalent, and Congress-established categorical exclusions could be adopted into NEPA procedures, expanding the list of actions that bypass full review.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Faster court deadlines and finality

If enacted, courts would get faster schedules for many NEPA lawsuits. Agencies must file the case record within 30 days. Courts would aim to decide cases within 180 days after the record is filed. You would have 60 days to file an appeal and appeals should be decided within 180 days. Many late or procedurally flawed NEPA claims would be barred and challenges to categorical exclusions would be limited. Agencies generally could not rescind completed environmental documents unless a court ordered it. If a sponsor agreed to an extension, that extension would generally block suits over the original deadline unless the agency then misses the new deadline.

Narrower NEPA reviews and scope

If enacted, federal NEPA reviews would be narrower and faster. Agencies would analyze only effects that are proximately and closely caused by the proposed action. Agencies generally would not have to use scientific research published after the earlier of application receipt or a notice of intent. Providing federal funds alone would not always be a "major Federal action" that triggers full NEPA review, and certain Farm Service Agency loan guarantees are explicitly covered. Cooperating agencies could only address matters they have legal jurisdiction over. A lead agency could treat an existing State or Tribal environmental review or another statute as meeting NEPA if it finds that review equivalent. The bill also says NEPA is a procedural statute and does not create substantive mandates.

Adds energy to CEQ duties

If enacted, the bill would add the word "energy" to the Council on Environmental Quality's list of duties alongside health. This is mainly a wording change that signals emphasis, and it is unlikely to directly change costs for most households.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Kennedy, John [R-LA]

LA • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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