U.S. House members issue support for energy permitting reform in 2024

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working to advance permitting reform to enable the construction of more energy projects, from offshore wind, to utility-scale solar, to direct-air carbon capture.

The Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a discussion between members of Congress on Wednesday , to emphasize “the urgency of permitting reform,” especially as it related to the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA.

“A lot of the projects we’re trying to build are actually going to improve the environment, but the NEPA process is preventing us from moving forward on them,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said on the panel.

Other members of Congress similarly addressed that NEPA reform attempts are falsely equated with an attack on the environment.

“If we want to be climate activists, we have to be permit reformers,” Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) said on the panel.

Permitting processes have created decades-long waiting periods to build some projects, Peters said, of which the majority are clean energy projects.

The House of Representatives’ bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus prioritizes permit reform, followed closely by adding more transmission to the grid, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), a co-chair of the caucus, said on the panel.

Of the 66 members of the Climate Solutions Caucus, Houlahan said many supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, bills that ear-marked “billions of dollars in investments in technologies and in energy sources and in carbon reduction, that sits on the sidelines if we cannot address the permitting issue.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which passed last summer building on a previous bill proposed by Graves, amended environmental protections, limiting NEPA assessments to 2 years.

“We addressed some of the biggest challenges that are out there, and have put better certainty on this law,” Graves said, adding that more changes are needed for the pipeline of projects awaiting permitting approval.

The panel reflected on the progress of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, S. 4753, a bill reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with a vote of 15-4 at the end of July.

“I think it’s really important that we pass this, I think it makes some really important reforms in transmission,” Peters said. “On transmission, this is not a Democratic issue, this is a national issue,” he said, referencing earlier statements on the panel about a growing demand in electricity.

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) withheld his support from a House version of S. 4753 for the time being, adding that he appreciated the effort for this reform.

Graves saw S. 4753 as a bill “rightfully focused on their committee’s jurisdictions” with significant limitations to the reform that must take place.

“In the House Natural Resources Committee, they have full jurisdiction over NEPA” and could push for more, Graves said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the full House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on a set of NEPA-related bills , two with bipartisan support, and a draft proposed by Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-AR). Graves is confident that Westerman’s bill will go on to have bipartisan support as well.

“What the Senate did has great momentum. I think that the conversations between Congressman Peters and Congressman Westerman make me really optimistic,” Graves said.

“The changes that Bruce has suggested, a lot of them are really good,” Peters said. He has not signed on to the bill yet, but expects to get there. Currently, Peters is wary of changes to NEPA about limiting the scope of review to particular jurisdictions, as that could potentially be targeted in litigation and further slow the process.

In January, the Bipartisan Policy Center published a ranking and analysis of 70 policy options for energy permitting reform, highlighting potential changes to NEPA such as creating enforceable timelines for each stage of the licensing and permitting process.

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