Congressman Troy Balderson (Ohio-12) has introduced companion legislation in the House.

“Cutting-edge American energy infrastructure is critical for everything from lowering energy costs to winning the AI race. Unfortunately, these projects often get delayed by frivolous litigation. My bill will end this nonsense and streamline the process to restore American energy dominance,” said Senator Cotton.

“Activist groups have long weaponized our legal system to attack promising energy projects, filing lawsuit after lawsuit to grind progress to a halt. The CLEAR Act puts an end to this serial litigation. To unleash American energy, lower costs, and strengthen our energy security, we must restore predictability and common sense to our permitting system,” said Congressman Balderson.

Text of the bill can be found here.

The CLEAR Act would:

• Ensure that once a court has ruled on an energy project, opponents can’t drag it back into court repeatedly.
• Prevent activist groups from filing serial lawsuits to block projects they oppose ideologically, while still preserving legitimate avenues for oversight and enforcement.
• Enable critical energy infrastructure to be built faster by limiting costly delays.
• Create certainty for investors and communities.
• Maintain exceptions for certain lawsuits after a project is running.
• Support America’s energy independence, grid reliability, and access to critical minerals needed for modern technology.