{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s280-114/featured_federal-permitting-improvement-act-of-2015-1454547147.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s280-114/featured_large_federal-permitting-improvement-act-of-2015-1454547147.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s280-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-01-28","title_override":"Creating a Council that Focuses on Streamlining the Federal Permitting Process","summary_override":"

This bill would establish a Federal Permitting Improvement Council that is chaired by a Federal Chief Permitting Officer (Federal CPO) who is an officer of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Federal CPO would be required to:

Establish an inventory of covered projects for which the review or authorization of the head of any federal agency is pending.
Develop non-binding performance schedules for reviews and authorizations of each category of covered projects.
Maintain an online database known as the Permitting Dashboard, to track the status of federal reviews and authorizations for any covered project.

Covered projects would be defined as a construction activity that requires authorization or review by a federal agency. They would involve renewable or conventional energy, electricity transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, manufacturing, or any other sector as determined by the Federal CPO. Covered projects would also require an initial investment of more than $25 million.

Agencies would be required to establish a plan for coordinating public and agency participation in, and completion of, any required federal review. This plan would be submitted to the Federal CPO and include a timetable with deadlines for agency action, and a process for consulting with participating agencies on issues of concern.

Congress would allow three or more contiguous states to enter into an interstate compact that establishes regional infrastructure development agencies to facilitate authorization and review of covered projects.

All environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) must be completed in a timely, coordinated, and environmentally responsible manner.

The statute of limitations for judicial review of an agency’s approval of a covered project would be shortened from five years to 150 days, and courts could consider the potential for job losses and economic harm from using an injunction to block the project.","official_title":"A bill to improve the efficiency, management, and interagency coordination of the Federal permitting process through reforms overseen by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Federal Permitting Improvement Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Federal Permitting Improvement Act of 2015\n\nThis bill revises the process for federal approval of major infrastructure projects by establishing best practices, requiring coordination of federal agency review of projects, and by shortening the period for challenges to final decisions for issuing project permits.\n\n(Sec. 2) This section sets forth definitions of terms used in the bill, including the definition of \"covered project\" as any construction activity in the United States that requires authorization or environmental review by a federal agency and that: (1) involves renewable or conventional energy production, electricity transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, or any other sector as determined by a majority vote of the Federal Infrastructure Permitting Improvement Steering Council established by this Act; (2) is likely to require a total investment of more than $200 million; (3) does not qual...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Projects requiring approval from a federal agency, states, federal agencies, the FPIC, the Federal CPO.","argument_for":"There are myriad ways for the federal government to stall a project it doesn’t agree with (see Keystone XL). Forcing agencies to set deadlines and shortening the judicial review window will help more projects get off the ground and boost the economy.","argument_against":"When the federal government wants to block a project they will find a way regardless of whether or not there is a Council dedicated to streamlining the permitting process. ","bill_type":"s","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"s280-114","bill_id":"s280-114","formal_id":"S. 280","chamber":"senate","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-08-04T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/senate-bill/280","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114s280rs/html/BILLS-114s280rs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s280-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/senate-bill/280/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-01-28","related_bill_ids":["hr22-114"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":63,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSGA","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=s280-114","details":"/api/bills/s280-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/s280-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/s280-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/s280-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":12,"slug":"s280-114-federal-permitting-improvement-act-of-2015","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":1133,"yea_vote_count":559,"nay_vote_count":571,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["government"],"issue_ids":["government"],"sponsor_id":532}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"government","name":"Government","slug":"government","description":"Federal legislation related to the operations of the US Federal Government. Bills can encompass government administration, regulation of political parties, the US postal service, US territories and public contracts.","page_title":"US Government - Federal legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/black_government-1453508811.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/grey_government-1453508811.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/white_government-1453508811.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Amador d ","vote_count":572,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/484195148724819/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/484195148724819/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/484195148724819/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/484195148724819/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/yWja3Lg9/following","followers":"/api/users/yWja3Lg9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":385,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":5,"following_count":1,"position_count":425,"id":"yWja3Lg9","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"9ae09c9a-d3bf-4fad-a6c0-8122503f9f05","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"No, government needs to stay out of the private sector workforce. Seems it was to stake it's claim on any buck a honest american makes","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/9ae09c9a-d3bf-4fad-a6c0-8122503f9f05"},"body":"No, government needs to stay out of the private sector workforce. Seems it was to stake it's claim on any buck a honest american makes","stance":"nay","created_at":"2016-04-13T19:21:01.469Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/9ae09c9a-d3bf-4fad-a6c0-8122503f9f05.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"s280-114","user_id":"yWja3Lg9","endorser_ids":[]}}

Like Causes?

Amador d

Creating a Council that Focuses on Streamlining the Federal Permitting Process