H.R. 8440 — ZELDIN Act

This section establishes a congressional approval procedure that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency must follow to dismiss a lawsuit or withdraw a referral to the Department of Justice relating to a covered claim involving the release of carcinogens. The Administrator may take such action only after providing notice to both Houses of Congress and after enactment of a joint resolution of approval, which is subject to expedited procedures including committee reporting or discharge within 3 legislative days in the House or 3 session days in the Senate, a motion to proceed that is not debatable, a maximum of 2 hours of debate equally divided, an immediate vote on passage, and a prohibition on amendments in either chamber.

This section limits the authority of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to terminate grants and cooperative agreements by requiring prior consultation with the Office of General Counsel and prohibiting termination unless the Office of General Counsel determines that the action complies with Office of Management and Budget and Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations in effect on the date the grant or agreement was issued or entered into and with the governing terms and conditions.

This section prohibits the deobligation of amounts awarded under grants or cooperative agreements issued by the Administrator until the expenditure of such amounts, termination of the grant or agreement, and completion of any civil action pending on or filed after the date of enactment of this Act, along with all related administrative processes. This section further directs that, in determining future awards or including information in Federal reporting systems, a head of a Federal agency may not consider a recipient's failure to close out a grant or cooperative agreement issued by the Administrator during the pendency of a judicial proceeding contesting its termination.

This section authorizes a person harmed by a violation of this Act to sue the Administrator in an appropriate U.S. district court for injunctive relief, damages equal to the greater of compensatory and punitive damages or $1,000 per violation (or three times that amount for bad-faith violations), and costs including reasonable attorney’s fees.

This section authorizes a United States district court to reduce the Administrator's annual rate of basic pay to $1 beginning on the first day of the first applicable pay period after the court finds that the Administrator violated section 2 or 3.

This section directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to implement the regulatory analysis guidance in Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-4 issued in 2023 when carrying out significant regulatory actions, as defined in Executive Order 12866, including actions that quantify and monetize public health benefits. This section also requires the Administrator to prepare each economic analysis in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency's Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (3rd edition) issued in 2024.