S.Amdt. 6812

The amendment is titled AMERICAN ENERGY AND MINERAL INFRASTRUCTURE. Its purpose is to change and add provisions relating to energy and mineral development, interagency coordination, environmental reviews, water quality certifications, pollutant discharge elimination systems, permits for dredged or fill material, hardrock mining mill sites, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

The amendment aims to add several specific changes and additions to the bill:

• Promote interagency coordination and set deadlines for the review of natural gas pipelines by designating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the only lead agency and establishing timelines for participating agencies.
• Change and improve water quality certifications under section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act by establishing explicit procedural requirements, decision criteria, strict 1-year deadlines without tolling, and specific judicial review limitations.
• Extend the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit terms and permit terms under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act from five years to 10 years.
• Provide certainty to permits for dredged or fill material under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act by defining the prohibition period, establishing nationwide permits for specific linear infrastructure and pipeline projects, and limiting judicial review.
• Add provisions for hardrock mining mill sites to allow operators to locate multiple mill sites reasonably necessary for operations under an approved plan of operations, and establish the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund funded by claim maintenance fees on those mill sites.
• Amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify its procedural nature, limit the scope of environmental reviews to reasonably foreseeable effects, establish strict deadlines for agency action and judicial review, and restrict court remedies to remands without vacatur or injunction.