| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 238 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require each agency to evaluate the permitting system of the agency, |
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| 6 | 6 | | to consider whether permitting by rule could replace that system, and |
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| 7 | 7 | | for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY23, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Ms. L |
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| 11 | 11 | | UMMIS(for herself, Mr. BUDD, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. SCOTT |
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| 12 | 12 | | of Florida, and Mr. S |
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| 13 | 13 | | HEEHY) introduced the following bill; which was |
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| 14 | 14 | | read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and |
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| 15 | 15 | | Governmental Affairs |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To require each agency to evaluate the permitting system |
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| 18 | 18 | | of the agency, to consider whether permitting by rule |
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| 19 | 19 | | could replace that system, and for other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Full Responsibility and 4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Expedited Enforcement Act’’ or the ‘‘FREE Act’’. 5 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 26 | 26 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 28 | 28 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) Agencies near unanimously operate under a 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | permitting system that gives agencies broad discre-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | tion and requires the Government to review each 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | permitting application. 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) Agencies near unanimously operate under a 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | permitting system that either does not have time 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | constraints, or has time constraints that agencies do 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | not follow. 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (3) The combination of broad discretion and the 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | lack of time constraints often results in a tedious, 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | time consuming, and often expensive permitting sys-11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | tem for the Government and applicants. Moreover, 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | agencies will sometimes use their discretion and the 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | time consuming nature of permitting to stall or dis-14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | courage permit issuance. 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (4) There is a compelling interest in avoiding 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | unnecessary delay and expense in Federal permit-17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ting. 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (5) Permit by rule is a process that seeks to 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | overcome agency delay and the cumbersome cost of 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | agency review to Government and private interests. 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (6) Permit by rule is a process of permitting 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | that includes specific written standards for obtaining 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | a permit, a simple requirement for an applicant to 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | certify compliance with each of the standards, and 25 |
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| 56 | 56 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 58 | 58 | | a streamlined approval process with a prompt dead-1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | line for agency action on applications that only al-2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | lows the Government to verify that all conditions are 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | met. The Government retains the right and responsi-4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | bility to audit and enforce compliance with permit-5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ting requirements. Focusing upon permittees who 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | are violating the law or standards rather than 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | gatekeeping will make permitting more efficient 8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | while allowing an agency to protect the compelling 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | interests for which permitting systems are intended. 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | SEC. 3. PERMITTING BY RULE. 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (a) R |
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| 70 | 70 | | EPORT TOCONGRESSREQUIRED.— 12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (1) S |
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| 72 | 72 | | UBMISSION OF REPORT .—Not later than 13 |
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| 73 | 73 | | 240 days after the date of the enactment of this sec-14 |
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| 74 | 74 | | tion, the head of each agency shall submit to Con-15 |
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| 75 | 75 | | gress, including any committee of Congress with ju-16 |
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| 76 | 76 | | risdiction over permits for that agency, and the 17 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Comptroller General a report on the following: 18 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (A) A list and description of each type of 19 |
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| 79 | 79 | | permit issued by the agency. 20 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (B) The statutory and regulatory require-21 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ments for obtaining each such type of permit. 22 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (C) For each type of permit issued by the 23 |
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| 83 | 83 | | agency, a specific description of each step the 24 |
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| 84 | 84 | | agency follows to review a permit application. 25 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 88 | 88 | | (D) For each type of permit issued by the 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | agency, an estimate of the time the agency typi-2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | cally takes to review an application, beginning 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | on the date on which an application is sub-4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | mitted and ending on the date on which a suc-5 |
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| 93 | 93 | | cessful application is granted. 6 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (E) For each type of permit issued by the 7 |
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| 95 | 95 | | agency, a description of each action typically 8 |
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| 96 | 96 | | taken for a case in which an application is 9 |
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| 97 | 97 | | found not to meet statutory or regulatory re-10 |
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| 98 | 98 | | quirements for the issuance of a permit. 11 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (F) A list of primary interests that each 12 |
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| 100 | 100 | | type of permit is intended to foster or protect. 13 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (G) An individual determination for each 14 |
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| 102 | 102 | | type of permit issued by the agency of whether 15 |
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| 103 | 103 | | permitting by rule could in whole or in part re-16 |
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| 104 | 104 | | place the current system for issuing the type of 17 |
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| 105 | 105 | | permit. 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (H) For each type of permit issued by the 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | agency for which permitting by rule could in 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | whole or in part replace the current system for 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | issuing the type of permit, an identification of 22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | any administrative or other practical challenges 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | the head of the agency anticipates in 24 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 115 | 115 | | transitioning to permitting by rule for the type 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | of permit. 2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | (I) An identification of each type of permit 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | for which the head of the agency has deter-4 |
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| 119 | 119 | | mined the agency could not reasonably, in 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | whole or in part, issue permits by rule under 6 |
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| 121 | 121 | | current facts and circumstances, describing 7 |
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| 122 | 122 | | with particularity each reason why permitting 8 |
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| 123 | 123 | | by rule could not reasonably be used for any 9 |
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| 124 | 124 | | such permit and what legal or practical meas-10 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ures could be pursued to eliminate or mitigate 11 |
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| 126 | 126 | | said reason. 12 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (2) P |
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| 128 | 128 | | UBLIC COMMENT.—In preparing the re-13 |
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| 129 | 129 | | port required pursuant to paragraph (1), the head of 14 |
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| 130 | 130 | | an agency may solicit and consider public comment 15 |
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| 131 | 131 | | regarding the report. 16 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (3) E |
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| 133 | 133 | | XTENSION OF SUBMISSION DEADLINE .—In 17 |
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| 134 | 134 | | the case that the head of an agency is not able to 18 |
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| 135 | 135 | | submit the report required pursuant to paragraph 19 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (1), the deadline to submit the report shall be ex-20 |
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| 137 | 137 | | tended by an additional 90 days if the head of the 21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | agency submits to Congress, including any com-22 |
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| 139 | 139 | | mittee of Congress with jurisdiction over permits for 23 |
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| 140 | 140 | | that agency, and the Comptroller General a notifica-24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 144 | 144 | | tion of the intended extension of the deadline under 1 |
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| 145 | 145 | | this paragraph. 2 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (4) A |
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| 147 | 147 | | TTORNEY FEES.—If the head of an agency 3 |
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| 148 | 148 | | does not file the report required pursuant to para-4 |
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| 149 | 149 | | graph (1) by the applicable deadline under this sub-5 |
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| 150 | 150 | | section, the agency shall pay, from any funds made 6 |
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| 151 | 151 | | available to the agency by appropriation or other-7 |
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| 152 | 152 | | wise, the attorney fees and costs of an applicant for 8 |
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| 153 | 153 | | a claim filed by the applicant for the failure or delay 9 |
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| 154 | 154 | | of the agency to take action with respect to an appli-10 |
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| 155 | 155 | | cation for a permit submitted to the agency by the 11 |
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| 156 | 156 | | applicant if— 12 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (A) the claim is filed against the agency in 13 |
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| 158 | 158 | | an appropriate United States district court dur-14 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ing the period beginning on the expiration of 15 |
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| 160 | 160 | | the applicable deadline under this subsection 16 |
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| 161 | 161 | | and ending on the date on which the agency 17 |
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| 162 | 162 | | files the report; 18 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (B) the court determines that the agency 19 |
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| 164 | 164 | | unreasonably delayed such action; and 20 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (C) the applicant prevails in the claim. 21 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (b) E |
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| 167 | 167 | | STABLISHMENT OF PROCESSES FOR PERMIT-22 |
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| 168 | 168 | | TING BYRULE.— 23 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (1) A |
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| 170 | 170 | | PPLICATION FOR AND APPROVAL OF PER -24 |
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| 171 | 171 | | MITS.—Not later than 12 months after the date on 25 |
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| 173 | 173 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
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| 174 | 174 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 175 | 175 | | which the report is submitted pursuant to subsection 1 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (a), for each type of permit issued by the agency for 2 |
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| 177 | 177 | | which the head of the agency determined under sub-3 |
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| 178 | 178 | | section (a)(1)(G) that permitting by rule could in 4 |
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| 179 | 179 | | whole or in part replace the current system for 5 |
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| 180 | 180 | | issuing the type of permit, the head of each agency 6 |
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| 181 | 181 | | shall establish by rule a permitting by rule applica-7 |
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| 182 | 182 | | tion process that does the following: 8 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (A) Specifies in writing each requirement 9 |
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| 184 | 184 | | and substantive standard that must be certified 10 |
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| 185 | 185 | | to be met by an applicant who files an applica-11 |
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| 186 | 186 | | tion to qualify for a permit under permitting by 12 |
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| 187 | 187 | | rule. 13 |
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| 188 | 188 | | (B) Allows an applicant to file an applica-14 |
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| 189 | 189 | | tion that contains only each required certifi-15 |
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| 190 | 190 | | cation described in subparagraph (A) and any 16 |
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| 191 | 191 | | supporting documentation the applicant chooses 17 |
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| 192 | 192 | | to submit in support of each such certification. 18 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (C) Deems an application for a permit 19 |
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| 194 | 194 | | under permitting by rule granted if— 20 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (i) the application contains each cer-21 |
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| 196 | 196 | | tification described in subparagraph (A); 22 |
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| 197 | 197 | | and 23 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (ii) a period of 180 days after the 24 |
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| 199 | 199 | | date on which the completed application 25 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
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| 202 | 202 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 203 | 203 | | was submitted has expired and the head of 1 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the agency has not otherwise approved or 2 |
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| 205 | 205 | | disapproved the application. 3 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (2) C |
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| 207 | 207 | | ORRECTION OF APPLICATION .—The head 4 |
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| 208 | 208 | | of an agency shall contact an applicant within 7 5 |
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| 209 | 209 | | days after the date on which an application is sub-6 |
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| 210 | 210 | | mitted under paragraph (1) if any required certifi-7 |
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| 211 | 211 | | cation is missing from the application. 8 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (3) A |
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| 213 | 213 | | UDIT OF APPLICATION.—The head of an 9 |
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| 214 | 214 | | agency may audit an application for a permit under 10 |
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| 215 | 215 | | permitting by rule and verify certifications of compli-11 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ance with requirements and substantive standards 12 |
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| 217 | 217 | | for permitting by rule and may include reasonable 13 |
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| 218 | 218 | | requests for documentation. 14 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (4) D |
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| 220 | 220 | | ISAPPROVAL OF APPLICATION AND EN -15 |
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| 221 | 221 | | FORCEMENT.— 16 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (A) R |
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| 223 | 223 | | EASON FOR DISAPPROVAL .—The 17 |
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| 224 | 224 | | head of an agency may only disapprove an ap-18 |
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| 225 | 225 | | plication submitted for a permit under permit-19 |
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| 226 | 226 | | ting by rule if the head of the agency identifies 20 |
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| 227 | 227 | | a requirement or substantive standard described 21 |
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| 228 | 228 | | in paragraph (1)(A) that was not met by the 22 |
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| 229 | 229 | | application, informs the applicant of how to cor-23 |
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| 230 | 230 | | rect the application, provides a reasonable op-24 |
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| 231 | 231 | | portunity for the applicant to make such correc-25 |
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| 233 | 233 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 234 | 234 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 235 | 235 | | tion before the final action of the agency on the 1 |
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| 236 | 236 | | application, and states with particularity in any 2 |
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| 237 | 237 | | final action disapproving the application the 3 |
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| 238 | 238 | | facts and reasoning for such denial. 4 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (B) A |
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| 240 | 240 | | UDIT OF COMPLIANCE AND EN -5 |
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| 241 | 241 | | FORCEMENT FOLLOWING GRANT OF A PERMIT 6 |
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| 242 | 242 | | UNDER PERMITTING BY RULE .— 7 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (i) A |
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| 244 | 244 | | UDIT.—The head of an agency 8 |
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| 245 | 245 | | may audit a permit granted under permit-9 |
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| 246 | 246 | | ting by rule and verify compliance with re-10 |
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| 247 | 247 | | quirements and substantive standards for 11 |
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| 248 | 248 | | permitting by rule, which may include rea-12 |
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| 249 | 249 | | sonable requests for documentation. 13 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (ii) E |
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| 251 | 251 | | NFORCEMENT.—The head of an 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | agency may require corrective action, sus-15 |
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| 253 | 253 | | pend, or revoke a permit granted under 16 |
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| 254 | 254 | | permitting by rule at any time if the head 17 |
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| 255 | 255 | | of the agency finds that a requirement or 18 |
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| 256 | 256 | | substantive standard under permitting by 19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | rule is not being met by the recipient of 20 |
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| 258 | 258 | | the permit. 21 |
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| 259 | 259 | | (C) D |
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| 260 | 260 | | IRECT APPEAL.—An applicant whose 22 |
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| 261 | 261 | | application for a permit under permitting by 23 |
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| 262 | 262 | | rule is disapproved, of whom corrective action is 24 |
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| 263 | 263 | | required under a permit granted under permit-25 |
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| 265 | 265 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 |
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| 266 | 266 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 267 | 267 | | ting by rule, or whose permit granted under 1 |
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| 268 | 268 | | permitting by rule is suspended or revoked may 2 |
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| 269 | 269 | | appeal such disapproval, corrective action, sus-3 |
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| 270 | 270 | | pension, or revocation in an appropriate United 4 |
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| 271 | 271 | | States district court. 5 |
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| 272 | 272 | | (D) B |
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| 273 | 273 | | URDEN OF PROOF .—In an appeal 6 |
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| 274 | 274 | | under subparagraph (C), the agency shall bear 7 |
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| 275 | 275 | | the burden of proof to show that an application 8 |
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| 276 | 276 | | was lawfully disapproved or that the agency 9 |
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| 277 | 277 | | lawfully required corrective action or suspended 10 |
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| 278 | 278 | | or revoked a permit. 11 |
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| 279 | 279 | | (E) A |
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| 280 | 280 | | TTORNEY FEES.—If the court finds 12 |
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| 281 | 281 | | for the applicant or permit holder under this 13 |
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| 282 | 282 | | paragraph and that the agency was not sub-14 |
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| 283 | 283 | | stantially justified in disapproving, requiring 15 |
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| 284 | 284 | | corrective action under, suspending, or revoking 16 |
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| 285 | 285 | | a permit, the agency shall pay the attorney fees 17 |
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| 286 | 286 | | and costs of the applicant from any funds made 18 |
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| 287 | 287 | | available to the agency by appropriation or oth-19 |
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| 288 | 288 | | erwise. 20 |
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| 289 | 289 | | (c) C |
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| 290 | 290 | | ONGRESSIONALOVERSIGHT.—Not later than 2 21 |
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| 291 | 291 | | years after the date on which the report is submitted pur-22 |
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| 292 | 292 | | suant to subsection (a), the head of each agency shall sub-23 |
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| 293 | 293 | | mit to Congress a report on the implementation by the 24 |
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| 294 | 294 | | agency of permitting by rule for each type of permit issued 25 |
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| 296 | 296 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 |
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| 297 | 297 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 298 | 298 | | by the agency for which the head of the agency determined 1 |
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| 299 | 299 | | under subsection (a)(1)(G) that permitting by rule could 2 |
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| 300 | 300 | | in whole or in part replace the current system for issuing 3 |
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| 301 | 301 | | the type of permit. 4 |
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| 302 | 302 | | (d) C |
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| 303 | 303 | | ONCURRENT USE OFPREVIOUSPERMITTING 5 |
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| 304 | 304 | | S |
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| 305 | 305 | | YSTEM.—If the head of the agency determines in the re-6 |
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| 306 | 306 | | port submitted pursuant to subsection (a) that the permit-7 |
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| 307 | 307 | | ting system in effect at the agency before the date of the 8 |
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| 308 | 308 | | enactment of this Act for any type of permit provides 9 |
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| 309 | 309 | | value that permitting by rule does not, but that permitting 10 |
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| 310 | 310 | | by rule could in whole or in part replace the current sys-11 |
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| 311 | 311 | | tem for issuing the type of permit, the head of the agency 12 |
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| 312 | 312 | | may maintain for that type of permit both the permitting 13 |
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| 313 | 313 | | system previously in effect and permitting by rule, and 14 |
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| 314 | 314 | | the applicant may choose which system to use to apply 15 |
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| 315 | 315 | | for a permit of that type from the agency. 16 |
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| 316 | 316 | | (e) GAO R |
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| 317 | 317 | | EPORTS.— 17 |
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| 318 | 318 | | (1) R |
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| 319 | 319 | | EPORT ON ACCURACY OF AGENCY RE -18 |
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| 320 | 320 | | PORTS.—Not later than 90 days after the expiration 19 |
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| 321 | 321 | | of the deadline to submit the reports required under 20 |
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| 322 | 322 | | subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit 21 |
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| 323 | 323 | | to Congress a report on the completeness and accu-22 |
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| 324 | 324 | | racy of the reports, including the recommendations 23 |
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| 325 | 325 | | of the Comptroller General concerning legal or prac-24 |
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| 326 | 326 | | tical measures that could be pursued to eliminate or 25 |
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| 329 | 329 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 330 | 330 | | mitigate any legal or practical challenges to the 1 |
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| 331 | 331 | | transition by agencies to permitting by rule for any 2 |
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| 332 | 332 | | type of permit. 3 |
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| 333 | 333 | | (2) R |
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| 334 | 334 | | EPORT ON PROGRESS BY AGENCIES .—Not 4 |
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| 335 | 335 | | later than 180 days after submission by the agencies 5 |
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| 336 | 336 | | of the reports required under subsection (c), the 6 |
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| 337 | 337 | | Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a re-7 |
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| 338 | 338 | | port on the progress by agencies in the implementa-8 |
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| 339 | 339 | | tion of this Act, including any recommendation con-9 |
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| 340 | 340 | | cerning legal or practical measures that could be 10 |
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| 341 | 341 | | pursued to eliminate or mitigate any remaining legal 11 |
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| 342 | 342 | | or practical challenges to the transition by agencies 12 |
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| 343 | 343 | | to issuance of permits under permitting by rule for 13 |
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| 344 | 344 | | any type of permit. 14 |
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| 345 | 345 | | (3) S |
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| 346 | 346 | | UPPLEMENTS TO THE REPORTS .—The 15 |
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| 347 | 347 | | Comptroller General may submit supplements to the 16 |
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| 348 | 348 | | report described in paragraph (1) or (2) with regard 17 |
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| 349 | 349 | | to a report submitted by the head of an agency after 18 |
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| 350 | 350 | | the Comptroller General submits the report required 19 |
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| 351 | 351 | | pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2). 20 |
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| 352 | 352 | | (f) D |
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| 353 | 353 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 |
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| 354 | 354 | | (1) A |
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| 355 | 355 | | GENCY; RULE.—The terms ‘‘agency’’ and 22 |
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| 356 | 356 | | ‘‘rule’’ have the meaning given those terms in sec-23 |
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| 357 | 357 | | tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 24 |
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| 358 | 358 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S238.IS S238 |
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| 359 | 359 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 |
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| 360 | 360 | | •S 238 IS |
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| 361 | 361 | | (2) COMPLETED APPLICATION .—The term 1 |
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| 362 | 362 | | ‘‘completed application’’ means an application sub-2 |
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| 363 | 363 | | mitted under subsection (b) that contains certifi-3 |
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| 364 | 364 | | cations that the applicant meets each requirement 4 |
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| 365 | 365 | | and substantive standard specified under subsection 5 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (b)(1)(A). 6 |
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| 367 | 367 | | (3) P |
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| 368 | 368 | | ERMITTING BY RULE.—The term ‘‘permit-7 |
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| 369 | 369 | | ting by rule’’ means the application process that an 8 |
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| 370 | 370 | | agency establishes by rule for granting a certain 9 |
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| 371 | 371 | | type of permit described in subsection (b). 10 |
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| 372 | 372 | | (4) S |
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| 373 | 373 | | UBSTANTIVE STANDARD .—The term ‘‘sub-11 |
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| 374 | 374 | | stantive standard’’ means all qualities, statuses, ac-12 |
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| 375 | 375 | | tions, benchmarks, measurements, or other written 13 |
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| 376 | 376 | | descriptions that would qualify a party to perform 14 |
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| 377 | 377 | | the permitted action. 15 |
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| 378 | 378 | | Æ |
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| 380 | 380 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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