# 119-s-4795: FREEDOM Act

119-s-4795, FREEDOM Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4795
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4795
- Congress: 119
- Title: FREEDOM Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-16
- Sponsor: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**This bill would create enforceable federal authorization timelines** to speed environmental reviews and permit decisions for major energy and geothermal projects and limit legal delays through an expedited judicial pathway. - Project sponsors and developers would submit a notice of initiation and can expect routine authorizations within 90 days, complex authorizations within 1 year, and environmental impact statement dependent decisions within 2 years. - Lead agencies would have to determine completeness in 30 days and publish project schedules within 30 days after that, classify authorizations as routine or complex, and face judicial remedies if they miss deadlines. - Courts would run accelerated reviews with limited discovery and may authorize qualified contractors to finish administrative records with costs paid from a Permitting Performance Fund; geothermal changes add a 60-day rule for certain approvals, a Geothermal Ombudsman and Task Force, cost recovery through FY2033, updated royalties (1.0–2.5% for first 10 years, 2.0–5.0% after), and hardrock mill sites may be authorized up to 5 acres per location under approved plans. *Establishes a Permitting Performance Fund with an initial $50.0 million capitalization and authorizes ongoing appropriations and reimbursements for court-authorized contractor work.*

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2026-06-16T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster energy project permitting: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would set firm federal timelines for covered energy project permits. Sponsors would file a Notice of Initiation and agencies must decide completeness within 30 days. Routine approvals would be due in 90 days, complex approvals in 1 year, and EIS-dependent decisions in 2 years.…
- Royalties on geothermal electricity: cost, medium. If enacted, geothermal electric facilities (not direct-use) would pay a royalty on electricity sales. For each year of the first 10 years after a plant starts the royalty would be 1.0% to 2.5% of gross proceeds. For each year after those first 10 years the royalty would be 2.0% to 5.0% of gross pro…
- Geothermal fees, oversight, and report: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Secretary could require geothermal lease applicants and holders to reimburse reasonable permit, inspection, and monitoring costs through Sept 30, 2033. The Secretary could reduce fees for economic hardship or cost-share agreements. The Interior would appoint a Geothermal Ombudsman a…

## Related bills

- 119-s-2342: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-4615: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-554: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-s-4456: AI OVERWATCH Act
- 119-s-1379: REPAIR Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4795 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4795)

## Related
- [119-s-2342: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2342)
- [119-s-4615: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4615)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-554: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-554)
- [119-s-4456: AI OVERWATCH Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4456)
- [119-s-1379: REPAIR Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1379)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4795 (as of 2026-09-10).