“A bill to prescribe judicial review requirements for certain projects, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes definitions for nine terms used in the Act, including "agency" (as defined in 5 U.S.C. §551); "authorizing legislation," which lists 23 federal statutes (e.g., Clean Air Act, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Safe Drinking Water Act as it relates to state primary enforcement authority under 42 U.S.C. §300g-2 or underground injection control programs under 42 U.S.C. §300h-1, Endangered Species Act); "Council" (i.e., the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council under the FAST Act, 42 U.S.C. §4370m-1); "direct and tangible harm"; "environmental review" (i.e., NEPA assessments); "project"; and "project sponsor."
This section establishes limitations on judicial review of initial authorizations (i.e., agency approvals following a project sponsor's request, excluding those after mediation) for covered projects, including (1) a 120-day statute of limitations for initial claims from final agency action (or shorter if specified by law) and for any subsequent actions (e.g., preliminary injunctions) from initial claim filing, with failure to meet the subsequent deadline invalidating the claim and barring further related actions; (2) a default remedy of remand to the agency for noncompliance with authorizing legislation, prohibiting vacatur, injunction, or other limits absent imminent substantial danger to health or environment with no other equitable remedy; and (3) standing limited to individuals suffering direct, tangible harm from the authorization that was not analyzed in its approval. This section further requires, if a court enjoins, remands, or vacates an authorization, mediation overseen by the Council between the project sponsor and agency of jurisdiction to develop a final remediation plan, including (1) remediation proposals from each party within 60 days (with sponsor-requested extensions of up to 120 days automatically approved, during which the agency may also submit); (2) automatic approval of the sponsor's proposal and direction to reauthorize if the agency misses the deadline; and (3) Council completion of a final plan within 60 days of submissions—accepting the sponsor's proposal or altering it based on the agency's to the maximum extent practicable—and direction to reauthorize accordingly.
This section bars judicial rights of action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenging federal approvals of authorizations for projects that use an applicable environmental review, as defined in the REPAIR Act of 2025. (Thus, such approvals are not subject to NEPA or APA lawsuits.)