S.Amdt. 1649

SA 1649. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1617 proposed by Mr. Gardner (for himself, Mr. Manchin,
Mr. Daines, Mr. Warner, Mr. Portman, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Alexander, Mr.
King, Mr. Burr, Mr. Tester, Ms. Collins, Mr. Udall, Mr. Boozman, Mr.
Schumer, Mr. Blunt, Ms. Harris, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Peters, Mr. Tillis,
Ms. Baldwin, Ms. McSally, Mr. Casey, Mr. Graham, Mr. Heinrich, Mr.
Bennet, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr.
Merkley, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Sinema, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Coons, Ms.
Smith, Ms. Hassan, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Durbin, Mrs.
Shaheen, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Jones, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Menendez, Mr.
Cardin, Mr. Brown, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Warren, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Klobuchar,
Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Leahy, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Markey, Mr.
Roberts, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Schatz) to the bill H.R. 1957,
to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modernize and improve the
Internal Revenue Service, and for other purposes; which was ordered to
lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.

Section 200402 of title 54, United States Code (as added by
section 2(a)), is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(l) Categorical Exclusions.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Environmental assessment.--The term `environmental
assessment' has the meaning given the term in section 1508.9
of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation).
``(B) Environmental impact statement.--The term
`environmental impact statement' means a detailed statement
required under section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
``(2) Categorical exclusions.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law and subject to subparagraph (B), in carrying out projects
using amounts from the Fund, the head of a covered agency
may, without further approval, use a categorical exclusion
under title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) that has been approved by--
``(i)(I) another covered agency; and
``(II) the Council on Environmental Quality; or
``(ii) an Act of Congress.
``(B) Requirements.--The head of a covered agency may use a
categorical exclusion described in subparagraph (A) if the
head of the covered agency--
``(i) carefully reviews the description of the proposed
action to ensure that it fits within the category of actions
described in the categorical exclusion; and
``(ii) considers the circumstances associated with the
proposed action to ensure that there are no extraordinary
circumstances that warrant the preparation of an
environmental assessment or an environmental impact
statement.''.
______