# Plain Language Summary of H.R. 3767

This bill asks the federal government to study whether it can use online technology to speed up environmental review processes and make them easier for the public to understand. Right now, when someone wants to build a major project—like a highway, pipeline, or power plant—they have to go through environmental reviews required by a 1969 law. These reviews involve submitting documents to multiple government agencies, and the process often takes years and requires applicants to deal with different agencies separately, each with their own systems and requirements.

The bill directs the Council on Environmental Quality to create a report within one year exploring what a unified online portal could look like. This portal would let project applicants submit all their documents in one place instead of going to multiple agencies, and they could work with government officials to edit documents together in real-time. The system would also let applicants upload videos, maps, and 3D renderings to better show what their project would look like. Importantly, different government agencies could all access the same information in one spot, making it easier for them to coordinate with each other and with the public.

The bill also wants the report to explain how this system could make the review process more transparent and understandable to ordinary people, not just experts. It would show what scientific data and analysis is being considered and give people a clear timeline for how long the process should take. To make this study happen, Congress would authorize $500,000 in funding. Essentially, this is a fact-finding mission to see if better technology could reduce delays and confusion in environmental reviews while keeping the public better informed about what's happening.

To require the Council on Environmental Quality to submit to Congress a report on the potential for online and digital technologies to address delays in reviews and improve public accessibility and transparency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and for other purposes.

Graves, Garret

<html><body><p>This bill directs the Council on Environmental Quality to study the potential for online and digital technologies, including a unified permitting portal, to address any delays in environmental reviews of federal actions and improve public accessibility and transparency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.</p></body></html>