Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1655 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1655
5	5	To provide that construction, rebuilding, or hardening of communications
6	6	facilities following a major disaster or an emergency related to a wildfire
7	7	is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or histor-
8	8	ical preservation reviews.
9	9	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10	10	FEBRUARY27, 2025
11	11	Mr. B
12	12	ENTZintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
13	13	on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Natural
14	14	Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
15	15	in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
16	16	diction of the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To provide that construction, rebuilding, or hardening of
19	19	communications facilities following a major disaster or
20	20	an emergency related to a wildfire is not subject to
21	21	requirements to prepare certain environmental or histor-
22	22	ical preservation reviews.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Communica-4
27	27	tions Resiliency Act’’. 5
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30	30	•HR 1655 IH
31	31	SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF NEPA AND NHPA TO COVERED 1
32	32	COMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS. 2
33	33	(a) NEPA E
34	34	XEMPTION.—A Federal authorization 3
35	35	with respect to a covered project may not be considered 4
36	36	a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na-5
37	37	tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 6
38	38	4332(2)(C)). 7
39	39	(b) N
40	40	ATIONALHISTORICPRESERVATIONACTEX-8
41	41	EMPTION.—A covered project may not be considered an 9
42	42	undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 10
43	43	States Code. 11
44	44	(c) D
45	45	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12
46	46	(1) C
47	47	HIEF EXECUTIVE.—The term ‘‘Chief Ex-13
48	48	ecutive’’ has the meaning given such term in section 14
49	49	102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 15
50	50	Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 16
51	51	(2) C
52	52	OMMUNICATIONS FACILITY .—The term 17
53	53	‘‘communications facility’’ has the meaning given the 18
54	54	term ‘‘communications facility installation’’ in sec-19
55	55	tion 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 20
56	56	Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)). 21
57	57	(3) C
58	58	OVERED PROJECT .—The term ‘‘covered 22
59	59	project’’ means a project that— 23
60	60	(A) is to be carried out entirely within an 24
61	61	area for which the President, the Governor of 25
62	62	a State, or the Chief Executive of an Indian 26
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65	65	•HR 1655 IH
66	66	tribal government has declared a major disaster 1
67	67	or an emergency related to a wildfire; 2
68	68	(B) is to be carried out not later than 5 3
69	69	years after the date on which the President, 4
70	70	Governor, or Chief Executive made such dec-5
71	71	laration; and 6
72	72	(C) replaces a communications facility 7
73	73	damaged by such disaster or emergency or 8
74	74	makes improvements to a communications facil-9
75	75	ity in such area that could reasonably be con-10
76	76	sidered as necessary for recovery from such dis-11
77	77	aster or emergency or to prevent or mitigate 12
78	78	any future disaster or emergency. 13
79	79	(4) E
80	80	MERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 14
81	81	means— 15
82	82	(A) in the case of an emergency declared 16
83	83	by the President, an emergency declared by the 17
84	84	President under section 501 of the Robert T. 18
85	85	Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-19
86	86	ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); and 20
87	87	(B) in the case of an emergency declared 21
88	88	by the Governor of a State or the Chief Execu-22
89	89	tive of an Indian tribal government, any occa-23
90	90	sion or instance with respect to which the Gov-24
91	91	ernor or Chief Executive declares that an emer-25
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95	95	gency exists (or makes a similar declaration) 1
96	96	under State or Tribal law (as the case may be). 2
97	97	(5) F
98	98	EDERAL AUTHORIZATION .—The term 3
99	99	‘‘Federal authorization’’— 4
100	100	(A) means any authorization required 5
101	101	under Federal law with respect to a covered 6
102	102	project; and 7
103	103	(B) includes any permits, special use au-8
104	104	thorizations, certifications, opinions, or other 9
105	105	approvals as may be required under Federal law 10
106	106	with respect to a covered project. 11
107	107	(6) G
108	108	OVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 12
109	109	the chief executive of any State. 13
110	110	(7) I
111	111	NDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT .—The term 14
112	112	‘‘Indian tribal government’’ has the meaning given 15
113	113	such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 16
114	114	Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 17
115	115	U.S.C. 5122). 18
116	116	(8) M
117	117	AJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis-19
118	118	aster’’ means— 20
119	119	(A) in the case of a major disaster de-21
120	120	clared by the President, a major disaster de-22
121	121	clared by the President under section 401 of 23
122	122	the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 24
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125	125	•HR 1655 IH
126	126	Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 1
127	127	and 2
128	128	(B) in the case of a major disaster de-3
129	129	clared by the Governor of a State or the Chief 4
130	130	Executive of an Indian tribal government, any 5
131	131	occasion or instance with respect to which the 6
132	132	Governor or Chief Executive declares that a dis-7
133	133	aster exists (or makes a similar declaration) 8
134	134	under State or Tribal law (as the case may be). 9
135	135	(9) S
136	136	TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 10
137	137	State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 11
138	138	and each territory or possession of the United 12
139	139	States. 13
140	140	Æ
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