Avoiding unreasonable delays in permitting

(a) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered application The term covered application means a complete application for 1 or more Federal authorizations or permits. (2) Federal authorization or permit The term Federal authorization or permit means an authorization, permit, record of decision, right-of-way, finding of no significant impact, verification, extension, construction and operations plan, biological opinion, incidental take statement, concurrence, or any other approval or order that is necessary, including any determination by a Federal department or agency that additional authorizations or permits are not necessary, for the construction or operation at full capacity of a project. (b) Right To petition An applicant seeking a Federal authorization or permit for which an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment (as those terms are defined in section 3 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) is not required may obtain judicial review of the compliance by a Federal agency with the deadline established under section 1402(c) with respect to the covered application by filing a complaint in a United States district court in which the applicable project is at least partially located. (c) Exceptions The failure of a Federal agency to comply with the deadline established under section 1402(c) with respect to a covered application shall not be considered a failure to comply if the Federal agency proves by clear and convincing evidence that the failure was caused by— (1) a natural disaster, act of God, or act of war that reasonably impaired the ability of the Federal agency to comply with the relevant deadline established under section 1402(c); (2) a national emergency for which the only available response is to delay the decision on the Federal authorization or permit beyond the applicable deadline; (3) the covered application being based on fraud or material misrepresentations of fact; (4) the applicant withholding information necessary to the ability of the Federal agency to comply with the statutory obligations of the Federal agency in issuing a decision on the Federal authorization or permit after the Federal agency has made a reasonable and timely request for such information; or (5) a lapse in appropriations of more than 14 days affecting 1 or more of the relevant Federal agencies with decisionmaking authority over the Federal authorization or permit. (d) Remedy If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a Federal agency has failed to act in accordance with this section, the court shall— (1) provide injunctive relief, as appropriate, to give effect to this section; and (2) retain jurisdiction to ensure compliance with any such injunctive relief provided. (e) Expedited procedures; time to decide A reviewing court shall— (1) establish an expedited schedule for briefing and disposition under this section; and (2) issue a decision under this section as expeditiously as practicable, but not later than 120 days, after the date on which the petition is filed under subsection (b), absent extraordinary circumstances. (f) Order A court awarding injunctive relief under subsection (d)(1) shall issue an order requiring a decision on the covered application not later than 60 days after the date on which the order is issued.