Bill to require annual CEQ reports on NEPA timelines, litigation gains bipartisan support at hearing

Representative Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.) and cosponsors proposed H.R. 573 to require the White House Council on Environmental Quality to publish a recurring, standardized report on how NEPA affects projects. Proponents said the report would consolidate disparate studies and give Congress and agencies better oversight information. Yakym told the committee that prior administrations produced fragmented data and that H.R. 573 would “revive and combine these individual reports into a single annual report” summarizing litigation, document length, timelines and costs. Supporters provided data compiled in past reviews: testimony before the committee cited a prior CEQ review of 656 EISs published between 2013 and 2018 that found an average EIS length of 575 pages and an average preparation time of 4.5 years. Other testimony referenced a Breakthrough Institute study that found NEPA litigation involving EISs averages about 4.2 years and that environmental nongovernmental organizations were involved in a majority of those claims. Witnesses including Thomas Hockman framed the bill as a transparency and oversight tool that would “help identify NEPA bottlenecks” and capture pre‑NEPA timelines (applicant submission to notice of intent), which are often overlooked in existing data. Critics of rapid statutory overhaul said better data was useful but warned against seeing the report as a substitute for careful policy evaluation. Robert Glickman testified that congress should evaluate the results of recent statutory (Fiscal Responsibility Act) and judicial changes before enacting further sweeping reforms. Supporters said H.R. 573 is narrowly targeted and complementary to other bills discussed in the hearing; they asked CEQ to resume regular, standardized reporting so Congress can make informed oversight and drafting decisions.