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119-s-3305119th CongressWALLET

CLEAR Act of 2025

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

Introduced

Summary

Precluding repeated lawsuits over energy project approvals. The CLEAR Act of 2025 would create a nationwide rule that blocks new court challenges to an energy project after a final agency or state authorization has been adjudicated, with only narrow exceptions.

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  • Project sponsors and federal agencies would gain greater legal stability. Once a final adjudication on an authorization resolves any aspect of an energy project, later suits about the same project are barred and courts lose jurisdiction for those barred claims.
  • Public commenters and community groups would face tighter rules to sue. To bring a challenge they must have submitted a substantive, unique comment during the public comment period and must file within 150 days after the final agency action is made public.
  • Landowners and enforcement actions remain protected. Claims seeking fair market value for eminent domain takings are allowed, as are post-completion enforcement or operational violation suits by the United States or a State.
  • Judicial review is narrowed and time-limited. Courts may review agency procedure only for abuse of substantial discretion and may remand with deadlines capped at 180 days while remanded authorizations can stay in effect during correction.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

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

Tighter rules on energy project lawsuits

If enacted, the bill would block new lawsuits about an energy project after a final court decision on the merits that is not appealable. It would define "energy project" to include power plants, transmission, storage, fossil fuel facilities, and certain critical-mineral activities, and say completion is when commercial operation or production begins (not construction). Legal challenges must be filed within 150 days after the final agency action is public, and courts would defer to agencies unless the agency abused its substantial discretion. For authorizations with public comment periods, challengers would generally need to have submitted a substantive, unique comment and shown direct harm about the same issue. If a court remands for procedure problems, the agency would usually get specific instructions and up to 180 days to fix them while the authorization stays in effect; only the issuing Federal agency or the project sponsor could invoke the preclusion rule, and landowner eminent-domain fair market value claims are excluded.

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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