Bill makes it harder to sue over federal project permits.

What it does

This bill speeds up how the government approves permits for big projects. Agencies must decide on permits in 150 days total. Courts must trust agency decisions and cannot cancel permits. People can only sue if they filed detailed comments during the public comment period. People must file lawsuits within 150 days. Agencies do not have to study effects that are far away. Agencies do not have to study effects that might happen in the future.

Who it affects

Developers and companies that build projects move faster and face fewer legal challenges. People who live near projects have fewer ways to stop permits. People who care about the environment have fewer ways to change permits.

One thing to notice

Once an agency issues a permit, it cannot take it back. This is true even if new facts show the project could cause harm.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

14 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans.

• Jul 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee Hearings Held”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18”
• Dec 18, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 221 - 196 (Roll no. 356).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

216 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 320 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $157,576,534 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 9 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 100% of bills with any report.

Bruce Westerman, who sponsored the bill, received $1,110,425 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Meta Platforms, Inc. and Various Subsidiaries — $5,990,000 in 1 report
• American Petroleum Institute — $4,700,000 in 2 reports
• Amazon.com Services LLC — $4,360,000 in 1 report
• Edison Electric Institute — $4,248,610 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• permit — Official government approval to do something, like build a road or mine.
• agencies — Government offices that make rules and decisions about projects.
• public comment period — A time when people can tell the government what they think about a project.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.