[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5468 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5468
To amend chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for
certain limitations on judicial review of agency actions, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 11, 2018
Mr. Marino (for himself, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Smith of
Texas, Mr. Collins of Georgia, and Mr. Amodei) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for
certain limitations on judicial review of agency actions, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Permitting Litigation Efficiency
Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON JUDICIAL REVIEW OF AGENCY ACTIONS.
Section 706 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``To the extent'' and inserting ``(a) To
the extent''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) A court shall presume a delay in final action on an
application for Federally-required permits to be an unreasonable delay
for purposes of subsection (a) if final action on all permits applied
for is not taken before--
``(1) the date for final action established in a schedule
set by an official designated by the President, provided that
such schedule is established not later than 60 days of the
filing of the completed application and includes, in addition
to such date for final action, a date prior to such date for
the final determination of the scope of any statutorily
required environmental review; or
``(2) in the absence of such a date for final action on the
application, the date that is 2 years after the date the
completed application was filed, other than in accordance
with--
``(A) a timetable under section 41003(c)(2) of the
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act;
``(B) section 139 of title 23, United States Code;
or
``(C) section 2045 of the Water Resources
Development Act of 2007.
``(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, judicial review
of any permitting determination for a permit described in subsection
(b) shall be barred unless the action is filed not later than 180 days
after the date of the final record of decision or approval or denial of
the permit, unless a different time is otherwise specified in law. In
any action seeking judicial review of such a determination, such review
shall be limited only to matters that were included in any record of
the proceeding of the agency that pertain to the issuance of the
permit, including the final determination of the scope of any
environmental review.''.
SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF RESTRAINING ORDERS AND INJUNCTIONS.
(a) Preliminary Injunctions or Temporary Restraining Orders.--
Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``When an agency'' and inserting ``(a) When
an agency''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) In any action seeking review of a determination to issue a
permit, if a party moves for a temporary restraining order or
preliminary injunction pertaining to the permit or the permitted
activity, the court, in addition to any other applicable equitable
considerations--
``(1) shall consider, in assessing the balance of the
equities and the public interest, the potential beneficial and
harmful effects resulting from such an order or injunction on
public health, safety, the environment, and economic interests,
including in areas that will be affected by the permitted
activity and on the employment of United States workers;
``(2) may not presume that any harms identified pursuant to
paragraph (1) are reparable;
``(3) may condition such an order or injunction upon the
payment by the party seeking such order or injunction of a bond
equal to an amount not to exceed $5,000,000 or a lesser, but
material, percentage of the reasonably anticipated costs of
delay of the project for which the permit or permits were
applied; and
``(4) may not issue a temporary restraining order unless
the party seeking the order shows that it was not reasonably
possible to seek a preliminary injunction at an earlier
date.''.
(b) Permanent Injunctions.--Section 706 of title 5, United States
Code, as amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(d) In any action seeking review of a determination to issue a
permit, if a party moves for a restraining order or injunction
pertaining to the permit or the permitted activity, the court, in
addition to considering any other applicable equitable factors, shall
issue such order only if it is determined to be in the public interest,
and shall, in making such determination, consider--
``(1) the environmental benefits of the permitted activity;
and
``(2) the costs, including detrimental effects on the
environment, of any delay in undertaking the permitted
activity.
``(e) The court may preclude recovery by a permit applicant on a
bond required under section 705(b)(3) if the court determines the
action was substantially justified.''.
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