The Commonsense Review Act establishes a temporary interagency group made up of the Secretaries of Energy, Interior, and Agriculture, plus members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to work toward aligning how federal agencies handle categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act. Categorical exclusions allow agencies to skip detailed environmental reviews for projects deemed unlikely to significantly harm the environment. Within 360 days of the bill's enactment, the group must adopt existing categorical exclusions from other member agencies where appropriate and create new ones specifically for electric transmission lines and battery storage projects. The group must then submit a report to Congress detailing which categorical exclusions were adopted or created, explaining any that weren't, and recommending areas for future collaboration or potential new statutory exclusions. The interagency group will automatically dissolve after submitting its report, making this a one-time effort to streamline environmental review processes across federal agencies involved in energy infrastructure projects.
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