Bill > S4620

This bill, the NEPA Accountability and Oversight Act of 2020, aims to amend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 by imposing time limits on the completion of certain required actions under the Act. The key provisions include: 1. Defining important terms like "environmental impact statement," "Federal agency," "NEPA process," and "project sponsor." 2. Requiring the head of a Federal agency to complete the NEPA process for a proposed action within 2 years, including issuing a finding of categorical exclusion, a finding of no significant impact, or publishing a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement within the first year. 3. Requiring the head of a Federal agency to issue or deny any necessary permit or authorization to carry out the proposed action within 90 days after publishing the notice of intent. If the permit or authorization is not issued or denied within this timeframe, it is considered approved. 4. Providing a process for the project sponsor to address the reasons for a permit or authorization denial and resubmit the request, which the Federal agency must then decide on within 90 days without repeating the NEPA process. The overall aim of the bill is to impose specific timelines and deadlines on the NEPA review process to increase accountability and oversight.