H.R. 10302 – Certainty in Litigation for Electric Asset Reliability (CLEAR) Act of 2026

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Updated September 9, 2026 at 3:15 PM UTC

The CLEAR Act of 2026 amends the Federal Power Act to improve how federal agencies coordinate approvals for electric transmission projects. It expands the scope of agency review to cover both siting and construction, requires agencies to publish final decisions, and creates a single, consolidated record of all permits for each project. The bill also centralizes rehearing and judicial review of those approvals under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Section 313 process.

Key Provisions

Changes the language in the Act so agencies must coordinate approvals for both siting and constructing transmission facilities.
Designates the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the lead agency for certain facilities that require permits under subsection (b).
Requires each federal agency with permitting authority to publish its final authorization actions in the Federal Register.
Mandates that the Secretary consolidate all permit-related records for a transmission project into a single joint record, when practicable.
Sets that any approval of a federal authorization for a coordinated transmission project is treated as a FERC order for rehearing and judicial review, and limits review to the Section 313 process.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Energy and Commerce Committee

September 4, 2026

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

September 4, 2026

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Energy and Commerce Committee

September 4, 2026

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

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Introduced in HouseIssued September 4, 2026

I

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 10302

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 4, 2026

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Evans of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Federal Power Act with respect to the coordination of Federal authorizations for transmission facilities, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Certainty in Litigation for Electric Asset Reliability (CLEAR) Act of 2026.

2.

Coordination of federal authorizations for transmission facilities

Section 216(h) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(h)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1), by striking to site a transmission facility each place it appears and inserting to site and construct a transmission facility;

(2)

in paragraph (2), by inserting , except that the Commission shall act as the lead agency in the case of a facility to be permitted under subsection (b) before the period at the end; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following:

(10)

Publication

The head of each Federal agency with authority to issue a Federal authorization shall publish in the Federal Register each final agency action relating to a Federal authorization.

(11)

Consolidated record

To the extent practicable for each transmission facility for which a Federal authorization is required, the Secretary shall consolidate all records relating to review and permit decisions for all Federal authorizations for the transmission facility into a single joint record of decision.

(12)

Rehearing and judicial review

With respect to any transmission facility the Federal authorization and review process for which is coordinated under this subsection—

(A)

each approval of a Federal authorization for the transmission facility shall be deemed to be an order issued by the Commission for purposes of section 313;

(B)

such section shall be applied by substituting the lead agency under section 216(h) for the Commission each place it appears; and

(C)

notwithstanding any other provision of law providing for rehearing or judicial review of an approval of a Federal authorization, a person may obtain rehearing and judicial review of such an approval only under such section 313.

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