UNSHACKLE Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Undoing NEPA’s Substantial Harm by Advancing Concepts that Kickstart the Liberation of the Economy Act or the UNSHACKLE Act
This bill revises the environmental review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), including by
establishing deadlines for federal agencies to complete reviews of the environmental effects of proposed major federal actions;
establishing penalties for agencies that do not comply with these deadlines;
limiting the number of assessment documents required for proposed major federal actions, requiring agencies to reuse certain research or documents, and allowing agencies to adopt environmental documents prepared by states or third parties;
requiring agencies to only consider alternatives to proposed actions that are technically and economically feasible;
prohibiting agencies from considering whether proposed actions or alternatives to those actions will have an effect on climate change; and
establishing requirements concerning the judicial review of NEPA cases.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 11, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 11, 2021: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced it on March 11, 2021, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 11, 2021, 2009 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2009 days ago, on March 11, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers