Exclusive – A key House Republican said that he is aiming to get a permitting legislative package to the Senate by the end of the year, in a bid to revamp the environmental review process to allow far faster construction of infrastructure and energy projects.
House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) told the Washington Examiner that passing meaningful legislation focused on permitting is a “high priority” for him and the committee.
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Westerman, who introduced bipartisan legislation at the end of July focused on accelerating the environmental review process, indicated that the Natural Resources committee will take up the issue soon after Congress is back in session.
“We are looking at a hearing coming up pretty soon, and then hopefully followed by markup,” Westerman said over the phone from southern Alaska, where he led a bipartisan delegation this week.
“Personally, I would like to see something, some action taken on it by the end of the year…taken on it in the House so the Senate could possibly take action on it by the end of the year,” the Arkansas Republican said. “I think this is a very important issue, and I think there’s a lot of momentum behind it on both sides of the aisle.”
Passing permitting reform is a priority for both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, as the construction, clean energy, fossil fuel, and other infrastructure-related industries have lamented for years that they are hamstrung by the lengthy process for obtaining federal approvals for projects.
Much of the irritation has centered on the National Environmental Policy Act, a 55-year-old law that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of major actions and decisions relevant to their departments.
This includes issuing permits, licenses, and other approvals required for building roads, data centers, power plants, transmission lines, and so much more.
Supporters of the law have asserted that it is critical for avoiding the endangerment of public lands and wildlife while mitigating the effects of climate change. Critics, however, claim NEPA does more harm than good by acting as red tape and slowing domestic infrastructure development.
Westerman and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the draft legislation called the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act. It primarily targets this bedrock environmental law by limiting its scope and reducing the risk of court challenges.
Westerman’s agenda
Revising NEPA was central to permitting reform discussions in the last Congress; however, Republicans and Democrats were unable to agree on the provisions.
Heading into the fall, Westerman remains adamant that the House will not advance permitting-related legislation without NEPA reform.
“Without NEPA, we’re not going to pass anything in the House,” he said. “And I have talked to senators about it. But without NEPA reform, which is the key part of permitting reform, I don’t think there is any kind of a permitting reform bill. Everything hinges on NEPA.”
Many Democrats in Congress have been wary of backing major NEPA reforms, as it has often been described as the “Magna Carta” for decades’ worth of environmental laws and federal regulations.
However, Republicans are expecting more Democrats to join them because NEPA can slow the buildout of clean energy.
Westerman told the Washington Examiner that his August recess has been filled with discussions with his Democratic colleagues in both the House and Senate. He is confident that more Democrats will sign onto the SPEED Act and ultimately support a larger “beautiful permitting reform bill.”
The SPEED Act is not the only permitting reform-related legislation before Congress this fall. In mid-July, Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) also introduced legislation focused on digitizing the permitting process and reducing processing time for all federal permits, including NEPA reviews.
Westerman said that part of the work the Natural Resources Committee plans to do during September is to determine the shape of a larger permitting bill, including statutory revisions for related laws, such as the Endangered Species Act or the Historical Preservation Act.
NEPA: WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT CENTRAL TO THE PERMITTING REFORM DEBATE
“It would be great if we could do everything across all committees for jurisdiction related to permitting reform and roll that into one bill, and try to move out of the House,” he said.
There are some fears on Capitol Hill that if permitting reform fails to pass through both chambers before the New Year, discussions will lose their steam and fall apart. Westerman, however, said the need to remove obstacles for infrastructure is too great for that momentum to wane.
“I think there’s enough rational people on both sides of the aisle to do what’s best for the country,” he said. “You’re always going to have somebody that’s got a special interest that’s going to be pushing back against good policy, that’s expected, but I think the numbers are big enough that we’ll see people come together to actually do something good for the country.”