Military Readiness Permitting Efficiency Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9188 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9188

    To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize interagency 
agreements to expedite reviews of priority programs and projects of the 
             Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2026

  Ms. Elfreth (for herself and Mr. Bergman) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize interagency 
agreements to expedite reviews of priority programs and projects of the 
             Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Readiness Permitting 
Efficiency Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS TO EXECUTE CERTAIN REVIEWS OF PRIORITY 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.

    Chapter 159 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 2672 the following new section:
``Sec. 2673. Interagency agreements to execute reviews of priority 
              programs and projects
    ``(a) Agreements Authorized.--(1) Subject to the requirements of 
paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military 
department may enter into an agreement with the Director of the 
National Marine Fisheries Service or the Director of the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service under which--
            ``(A) the Director agrees to execute a review process under 
        a law specified in paragraph (2) for a priority military 
        program or project, as designated by the Secretary; and
            ``(B) the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a 
        military department agrees to provide to the Director direct 
        financial assistance in such amounts as may be necessary to 
        hire personnel to execute the review process, provided such 
        amounts are used only for such purpose.
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military 
department may enter into an agreement under this subsection with 
respect to a program or project only if--
            ``(A) the Secretary determines that it is in the interest 
        of national defense to carry out a review process for the 
        program or project within a particular period of time; and
            ``(B) the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service 
        or the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
        provides notice to the Secretary that the National Marine 
        Fisheries Service or the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service, as the case may be, does not have sufficient funds or 
        adequate personnel to carry out the review process within such 
        period without the receipt of assistance under the agreement.
    ``(3) The laws specified in this paragraph are each of the 
following:
            ``(A) The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 
        1361 et seq.).
            ``(B) The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
        seq.).
            ``(C) The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
        Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `eligible expense', with respect to a review 
        process, includes an expense for--
                    ``(A) support of or participation in military 
                planning activities that precede the initiation of the 
                review process;
                    ``(B) activities directly related to the review 
                process, including any associated consultation process; 
                and
                    ``(C) development of programmatic agreements.
            ``(2) The term `review process', with respect to a law, 
        means the process of reviewing the potential environmental 
        impacts of a program or project to determine whether the 
        program or project meets the requirements of the law, including 
        any requirement for a consultation, plan, permit, or 
        approval.''.
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