1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Approve the Pipeline Now Act”.
Approve the Pipeline Now Act
A BILL
To provide for the expedited approval of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline, and for other purposes.
2. Keystone XL pipeline and environmental impact statement approval
Requirement— Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall—
issue a Presidential permit approving the pipeline described in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, as supplemented to include the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor; and
issue a final environmental impact statement for such pipeline.
Satisfaction of requirements— The final environmental impact statement described in subsection (a)(2), coupled with the Final Evaluation Report described in subsection (a)(1), shall be considered to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), and of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536).
Consequence of failure To comply—
General rule— If either the Presidential permit described in subsection (a)(1) or the environmental impact statement described in subsection (a)(2) remains unissued upon the expiration of 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, until such permit and environmental impact statement are both issued no Federal funds may be expended to pay more than 75 percent of the salary of any senior official in the Department of State.
Definition— In this subsection, the term senior official in the Department of State means the Secretary of State and any Deputy Secretary or Under Secretary at the Department of State.
3. Associated permits
Requirement— Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act—
the Secretary of the Interior shall issue all permits associated with the pipeline project described in section 2(a) that were applied for before the date of enactment of this Act, including a grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit under section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and any permit required under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.); and
the Secretary of the Army shall issue all permits associated with such pipeline project that were applied for before the date of enactment of this Act under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344).
Consequence of failure To comply—
General rule— If any permit described in subsection (a) remains unissued upon the expiration of 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, until all such permits are issued no Federal funds may be expended to pay more than 75 percent of the salary of—
in the case of a permit described in subsection (a)(1), any senior official in the Department of the Interior; and
in the case of a permit described in subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of the Army and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
Definition— In this subsection, the term senior official in the Department of the Interior means the Secretary of the Interior and any Deputy Secretary or Under Secretary at the Department of the Interior.