Bill > HR3813

This bill, the NEPA Legal Reform Act, amends the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to reform the legal process surrounding NEPA compliance. The key provisions include: 1. Defining the "NEPA process" as the entire process, analysis, and measures required for a federal agency to undertake a proposed action, starting when the agency receives an application from a project sponsor and ending when the agency issues a record of decision, finding of no significant impact, or categorical exclusion. 2. Establishing standing requirements, where a plaintiff must plead facts showing they have personally suffered or will likely personally suffer direct, tangible harm from the portion of the NEPA process they are seeking to challenge. 3. Imposing a 150-day statute of limitations for filing claims seeking judicial review of the NEPA process, with an exception for claims based on new information that requires a supplemental environmental impact statement. 4. Setting a higher bar for obtaining preliminary injunctions, temporary restraining orders, and permanent injunctions against federal agencies or project sponsors related to the NEPA process. 5. Excluding knowledge, expertise, or skill in environmental litigation as a "special factor" for determining attorney's fees in NEPA-related cases. The overall intent of the bill is to streamline the legal process and make it more difficult to obtain court orders that delay or halt federal actions subject to NEPA review.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Justice

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3813/all-info