| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2318 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To modernize permitting systems at the Department of the Interior, and |
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| 6 | 6 | | for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH25, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. A |
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| 10 | 10 | | NSARIintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 11 | 11 | | on Natural Resources |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To modernize permitting systems at the Department of the |
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| 14 | 14 | | Interior, and for other purposes. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Permitting 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Modernization Act’’. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PERMIT ACCESSI-6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | BILITY. 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) I |
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| 23 | 23 | | NGENERAL.—In order to improve the overall 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | economy, efficiency, and management of operations and 9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | activities of the Department of the Interior (referred to 10 |
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| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2318.IH H2318 |
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| 27 | 27 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •HR 2318 IH |
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| 29 | 29 | | in this section as the ‘‘Department’’), reduce paperwork, 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | and provide high-quality services and access to the public, 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | the Secretary of the Interior shall, to the extent prac-3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ticable— 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) design and deliver modernized electronic 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | permitting systems to accept, process, and record 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | applications (including plan submissions, payment 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | activity, and other related correspondence) for per-8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | mits, forms, and other paperwork required for activi-9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ties regulated by the Department; 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (2) provide a centralized electronic permitting 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | system online repository, available to the public on 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | the Department’s website, that includes— 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (A) hyperlinks to facilitate navigation to 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | all Department electronic permitting systems; 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | and 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (B) with respect to permits, the contact in-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | formation for the appropriate Department em-18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ployees providing assistance to State, Tribal, 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | and local governments; and 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (3) provide to the Committee on Natural Re-21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | sources of the House of Representatives and the 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Senate periodic updates on the implementation of 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | paragraphs (1) and (2). 25 |
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| 54 | 54 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2318.IH H2318 |
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| 56 | 56 | | •HR 2318 IH |
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| 57 | 57 | | (b) DISCLOSURE OFINFORMATIONPROHIBITED.— 1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | No information described in section 552(b) of title 5, 2 |
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| 59 | 59 | | United States Code, or protected from disclosure by an-3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | other law of the United States shall be disclosed under 4 |
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| 61 | 61 | | this Act. 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (c) D |
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| 63 | 63 | | UPLICATION OFSYSTEMSNOTPERMITTED.— 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | No system shall be duplicated under this Act. 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (d) C |
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| 66 | 66 | | ONSULTATION.—In developing the permitting 8 |
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| 67 | 67 | | systems required under section 2 of this Act, the Secretary 9 |
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| 68 | 68 | | of the Interior shall consult with States, local govern-10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ments, Indian Tribes and other stakeholders who apply 11 |
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| 70 | 70 | | for agency permits and will use the permitting systems. 12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO ENSURE CONSIST-13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ENCY WITH THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ACT OF 2023. 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | In developing the permitting systems required under 16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | section 2 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ensure that the Department’s electronic permitting sys-18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | tems are consistent with the priorities identified in section 19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | 110 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | U.S.C. 4336d) with respect to any permit that requires 21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | review under that Act. 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | Æ |
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| 82 | 82 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2318.IH H2318 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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