PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 16, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.10302 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.10302 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.10302 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.10302 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-04 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed CLEAR Act would change how federal approvals for electricity transmission facilities are coordinated and challenged. It would extend specified coordination language to construction and require agencies to publish final authorization actions. People challenging covered approvals would have to use a single specified legal process for agency reconsideration and court review.
This Act may be cited as the Certainty in Litigation for Electric Asset Reliability (CLEAR) Act of 2026.
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking to site a transmission facility each place it appears and inserting to site and construct a transmission facility;
The head of each Federal agency with authority to issue a Federal authorization shall publish in the Federal Register each final agency action relating to a Federal authorization.
notwithstanding any other provision of law providing for rehearing or judicial review of an approval of a Federal authorization, a person may obtain rehearing and judicial review of such an approval only under such section 313.
The bill would amend section 216(h)(1) of the Federal Power Act by replacing references to locating a transmission facility with references to locating and constructing it. The existing paragraph is not reproduced, so the supplied text does not establish its full scope.
Section 216(h) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(h)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking to site a transmission facility each place it appears and inserting to site and construct a transmission facility;
For a facility to be permitted under section 216(b), the bill would require the Commission referenced in the Federal Power Act to serve as the lead agency coordinating federal authorizations. The supplied text does not reproduce subsection (b), which determines the facilities covered by this exception.
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting , except that the Commission shall act as the lead agency in the case of a facility to be permitted under subsection (b) before the period at the end;
The bill would require each federal agency head with authority to issue a federal authorization to publish every final agency action relating to such an authorization in the Federal Register, the federal government's official notice publication.
(10) Publication The head of each Federal agency with authority to issue a Federal authorization shall publish in the Federal Register each final agency action relating to a Federal authorization.
For each transmission facility requiring a federal authorization, the Secretary referenced in the law would have to combine the records of reviews and permit decisions for all federal authorizations into one joint decision record, to the extent practicable.
(11) Consolidated record To the extent practicable for each transmission facility for which a Federal authorization is required, the Secretary shall consolidate all records relating to review and permit decisions for all Federal authorizations for the transmission facility into a single joint record of decision.
For transmission facilities whose federal authorization and review process is coordinated under section 216(h), each authorization approval would be treated as a Commission order for purposes of section 313. That section would apply using the lead agency in place of the Commission. Requests for agency reconsideration and court review of these approvals could proceed only under section 313, overriding other laws providing review routes.
(12) Rehearing and judicial review With respect to any transmission facility the Federal authorization and review process for which is coordinated under this subsection— (A) each approval of a Federal authorization for the transmission facility shall be deemed to be an order issued by the Commission for purposes of section 313; (B) such section shall be applied by substituting the lead agency under section 216(h) for the Commission each place it appears; and (C) notwithstanding any other provision of law providing for rehearing or judicial review of an approval of a Federal authorization, a person may obtain rehearing and judicial review of such an approval only under such section 313.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated September 16, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 4, 2026. It does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-16T14:26:57Z. 2026-09-04: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2026-09-04: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-04. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what other versions or accompanying materials contain.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; member disclosures, committee reports, and conference materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential benefit or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The coordination and review rules concern the bill's main policy and do not alone establish preferential treatment. This conclusion is limited to the supplied version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 16, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI