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H.R. 1577 118th Congress House

BUILDER Act of 2023

Official title: To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify ambiguous provisions, reflect modern technologies, optimize interagency coordination, and fac… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify ambiguous provisions, reflect modern technologies, optimize interagency coordination, and facilitate a more efficient, effective, and timely environmental review process.

Introduced: March 14, 2023 See on congress.gov
Environmental Protection
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This bill died when the 118th Congress ended
It never became law before the 118th Congress (2023–2024) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 14, 2023
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Mar 14, 2023
Introduced in House
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 Latest action March 14, 2023

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

BUILDER Act of 2023 or the Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews Act of 2023

This bill places limits on the environmental review of proposed major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and establishes deadlines and other requirements to expedite the environmental review of such actions.

Specifically, the bill limits the scope of the environmental review of major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment as specified by the bill. The bill also specifies the thresholds that trigger when agencies must issue environmental assessments and environmental impact statements for proposed agency actions, outlines when agencies are not required to prepare environmental documents for such actions, and establishes deadlines to complete such documents.

The bill also establishes a process for designating a lead federal agency as well as a joint lead agency, such as a state government, to supervise the environmental review under NEPA. The lead agency must supervise the preparation of one environmental document (e.g., environmental impact statement), which satisfies the document requirement for all involved agencies, and prepare a schedule to complete the review of the action. If the lead agency is unable to meet the deadlines, it must pay $100 per day to the applicant until the applicant approves a new deadline. A lead agency may allow a project sponsor to prepare environmental documents under specified circumstances.

Additionally, the bill limits judicial review of NEPA cases, including by establishing deadlines to file lawsuits under NEPA.

 Related & companion bills 5
  • HR 1 Lower Energy Costs Act
  • HR 1335 TAPP American Resources Act
  • S 947 Lower Energy Costs Act
  • HR 2811 Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023
  • HR 7476 Countering Communist China Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 1

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1577: BUILDER Act of 2023. 118th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-1577/
MLA
"H.R. 1577: BUILDER Act of 2023." 118th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-1577/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 1577, 118th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-1577/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 1577: BUILDER Act of 2023](https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-1577/)
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