Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fixing Egregiously Expensive Suits Act of 2026” or as the “FEES Act of 2026”.
Fixing Egregiously Expensive Suits Act of 2026
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules relating to the payment of attorney’s fees.
Sec. 2 Modification of Equal Access to Justice provisions
Agency proceedings—
Eligibility parties— Section 504(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “prevailing party” the following: “who has a direct and personal monetary interest in the adjudication, including because of personal injury, private property damage, or unpaid agency disbursement,”.
Limitation on awards— Section 504(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(5) A party may not receive an award of fees and other expenses under this section—
“(A) in excess of $200,000 in any single adversary adjudication, or
“(B) for more than 3 adversary adjudications initiated in the same calendar year,”
Civil actions— Section 2412(d)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “in any civil action” and all that follows through “jurisdiction of that action” and inserting “in the civil action”; and
by striking “shall award to a prevailing party other than the United States” and inserting the following: “, in any civil action (other than cases sounding in tort), including proceedings for judicial review of agency action, brought by or against the United States in any court having jurisdiction of that action, shall award to a prevailing party who has a direct and personal monetary interest in the civil action, including because of personal injury, private property damage, or unpaid agency disbursement, other than the United States,”;
in subparagraph (C)—
by striking “, in its discretion, may reduce the amount to be awarded pursuant to this subsection, or deny an award,” and inserting “shall reduce the amount to be awarded under this subsection, or deny an award, commensurate with pro bono hours and related fees and expenses, or”;
by striking “unduly and”; and
by striking “controversy.” and inserting “controversy or acted in an obdurate, dilatory, mendacious, or oppressive manner, or in bad faith.”; and
by adding at the end, the following:
“(E) An individual or entity may not receive an award of fees and other expenses under this subsection in excess of—
“(i) $200,000 in any single civil action, or
“(ii) for more than 3 civil actions initiated in the same calendar year, unless the prevailing party has filed and prevailed in a class action lawsuit or the Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs is a party in such action.”
Effective date— The amendments made by—
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall apply with respect to adversary adjudications commenced on or after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
subsection (b) shall apply with respect to civil actions commenced on or after such date of enactment.
Sec. 3 Settlement agreements and consent decrees
Limitation on attorneys’ fees and litigation costs— A settlement agreement or consent decree resulting in a regulation or guidance document with respect to which a Federal agency is a party may not include the payment of attorneys’ fees or litigation costs.
Definitions— In this section:
Guidance document— The term guidance document—
means an agency statement of general applicability (other than a regulation that has the force and effect of law promulgated in accordance with the notice and public procedure under section 553 of title 5, United States Code) that—
does not have the force and effect of law; and
sets forth—
an agency decision or a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue; or
an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue; and
may include—
a memorandum;
a notice;
a bulletin;
a directive;
a news release;
a letter;
a blog post;
a no-action letter;
a speech by an agency official;
an advisory;
a manual;
a circular; or
any combination of the items described in clauses (i) through (xii).
Regulation— The term regulation—
means an agency statement of general applicability and future effect, which the agency intends to have the force and effect of law, that is designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to describe the procedure or practice requirements of an agency;
includes regulations issued pursuant to—
an informal rulemaking under section 553 of title 5, United States Code;
a formal rulemaking under sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code; and
any combination of the informal rulemaking described in clause (i) and the formal rulemaking described in clause (ii); and
does not include—
regulations that pertain to a military or foreign affairs function of the United States, other than procurement regulations and regulations involving the import or export of non-defense articles and services;
regulations or regulations that are limited to agency organization, management, or personnel matters; or
any other category of regulations exempted by the Administrator of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Sec. 4 Independent review and assessment
In general— Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Interior shall assemble an independent scientific panel to conduct an assessment of the impacts of the provisions of this Act on the ecological, social, and economic sustainability of federally managed lands; including factors including—
Federal forest and rangeland health;
susceptibility of Federal forests and rangelands to catastrophic wildfire and insect infestation;
biological diversity;
watershed quality; and
economic productivity of Federal forests and rangelands.
Report— The panel shall report its conclusions upon completion of the assessment to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
Scientific panel members— The panel shall consist of 5 members, appointed by the Secretary—
at least two of whom shall be hunters or anglers;
at least one of whom shall be affiliated with the forest products industry;
at least one of whom shall be affiliated with a rural water utility; and
at least one of whom shall be a wildlife biologist.