CLEAR Act of 2025

This bill would limit lawsuits over federal and state approvals for energy projects, including power generation and transmission, fossil fuel facilities, and critical mineral projects. Once a court has issued a final decision on any lawsuit about an energy project, no later lawsuit about that same project could be brought in any federal or state court, no matter who files it or which approval it challenges. Courts reviewing these approvals would have to defer to the federal agency, and if they find procedural errors they could only send the approval back for correction within 180 days while it stays in effect. Lawsuits would have to be filed within 150 days of the final agency action, and where there was a public comment period, only by parties who submitted a detailed comment on the same issue.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Tom Cotton Republican sponsor
• 0 cosponsors