Key legislators introduced bipartisan legislation Friday in the hopes of succeeding where others have failed and revamping the federal environmental review process for infrastructure and energy projects, which members of both parties have blamed for making it too hard to build in the United States.

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act on Friday morning, with Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) co-sponsoring the bill. 

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The legislation is focused on speeding up environmental reviews conducted by federal agencies when issuing various permits, while also limiting legal challenges under existing law. It specifically targets the National Environmental Policy Act, which was signed into law in 1970. 

NEPA, as it is most well known, is a bedrock environmental law that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of major actions and decisions relevant to their departments. This includes the issuing of any permits and licenses required for building roads, large load facilities such as data centers, energy infrastructure, and so much more. 

Supporters of the law have long said NEPA is crucial to avoiding the endangerment of public lands and wildlife, while also curbing the effects of climate change. 

Critics, however, argue that the law has led to bureaucratic red tape that has in turn slowed domestic infrastructure, hurting energy growth and, more recently, the domestic buildout of artificial intelligence.

In an effort to lift these “significant barriers,” as the lawmakers described in a release shared with the press, the bill would simplify the scope of review required under NEPA by removing requirements to consider or conduct new scientific or technical research. 

The text would also mandate that federal agencies are not permitted to delay the issuance of an environmental review document or decision on the basis of waiting for new scientific research to be released. 

It would also limit reviews to only considering environmental impacts that “share a reasonably close causal relationship to, and are proximately caused by” the immediate project or action undergoing the permitting process. 

This would likely limit agencies’ ability to include downstream environmental impacts associated with infrastructure and energy projects. An example of this would be a review regarding the production of fossil fuels, such as oil or natural gas, considering the effect of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned well after they are produced and transported. 

Critics of NEPA have long argued that the existing statute has allowed many projects to undergo yearslong legal delays. This bill attempts to solve that problem by including a 150-day deadline for people to file a claim. 

In a statement released Friday morning, Westerman acknowledged that the implementation of NEPA was well intended but said it had been overdue “for a tune-up.”

“With commonsense upgrades, we can cut red tape and enable the United States to build once again while setting the standard for environmental stewardship,” Westerman said.

“The SPEED Act will help launch America into a future where we can effectively innovate and implement to revitalize our infrastructure, meet skyrocketing energy demands, lead the world in the AI race, and work in harmony with our natural environment,” Westerman said. “America must lead by setting an example for the rest of the world on how to steward the environment, strengthen the economy, and create the best place to live and work.”

Reforming NEPA has remained a top priority for Republicans, including President Donald Trump, as part of their efforts to expand domestic energy production and bolster U.S.-based advancements in artificial intelligence. 

On his first day in office, the president ordered the Council on Environmental Quality, which oversees NEPA, to rescind existing regulations on implementing the law and to provide new, nonbinding guidance for agencies. 

Democrats have also advocated accelerating the permitting process in recent years to support the buildout of cleaner technologies. However, Congress has struggled to put any meaningful bipartisan proposals to a vote. 

Westerman attempted to push through similar permitting reforms during the last Congress, working alongside Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and then-Sen. Joe Manchin. 

After months of delays, the talks broke down in December after the two parties were unable to come to an agreement on provisions related to NEPA. At the time, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) claimed Republicans walked away from discussions.  

Executives in the energy industry that are leading development of pipeline, drilling, and construction projects have warned in recent months that Congress faces a tight deadline to pass meaningful permitting reform if Republicans want to see new projects completed before the end of the administration. 

“If they truly want the build out that they’ve talked about, we need it by the end of the year, early next year,” Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Board Chair Mike McMahon told the Washington Examiner in March. 

McMahon said if developers wish to start building by the spring of 2027, permits will be needed by the middle of next year. 

“That’s kind of just the given flow of the projects…Everybody who’s working on projects right now has the date January 20, [2029] circled because we know we’re getting a new administration,” he said. “We don’t know what that administration is going to look like, but we know it’s going to be due and so trying to get as much done before that date is really important.” 

The release of the draft legislation comes just days after the Natural Resources committee held a hearing titled, “Permitting Purgatory: Restoring Common Sense to NEPA Reviews.” 

Members across the aisle agreed during the hearing that NEPA should be subject to modern reform, though several Democrats insisted their Republican colleagues were going too far and aiming to weaken the bedrock law entirely. 

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With the House now in its August recess, Westerman and Golden have left their colleagues with much to discuss before the chamber returns in September. 

Releasing the text before many of their colleagues leave Washington, D.C., will likely make it easier for the Natural Resources committee to jump right into hearings on the text when they are back in session.