Senate committee leaders announce permitting overhaul deal to spur energy development

A bipartisan group of senators announced a deal on Wednesday to overhaul federal permitting laws and regulations to speed up development of crucial energy projects.

The permitting bill is expected to be the first order of business in the Senate after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Senate negotiators said the White House was involved and President Trump supports the deal.

Lawmakers have complained for years that the permitting process for U.S. energy projects — from traditional oil and gas to renewable energy such as wind and solar — takes too long.

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They say the red tape has slowed down American production, which increases dependence on foreign sources and subjects consumers to price uncertainty.

The Senate bill makes updates to several existing laws governing the permitting process, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, that are designed to speed up the process while keeping important reviews in place.

Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito called the deal “monumental and legacy-setting.”

“It is about establishing a permitting system that’s faster, more predictable, and better equipped to serve the American people,” the West Virginia Republican said.

The top Democrat on the panel, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, said the measure delivers “very, very big” wins that both parties set out to achieve in the arduous negotiations.

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“This should lower electricity costs measurably for Americans. This should increase clean power significantly for Americans. This should significantly add construction and jobs across the country. And this should contribute to a lift in America’s overall economy,” he said.

Mr. Whitehouse described the Senate committee leaders who led negotiations on the bill as “the fearsome foursome.”

In addition to him and Ms. Capito, that foursome includes Senate Energy and Natural Resource Chairman Mike Lee, Utah Republican, and ranking member Martin Heinrich, New Mexico Democrat.

They released text of the 417-page bill on Wednesday but said they expect changes based on feedback from other senators and industry stakeholders. Those changes would be made in the form of a “manager’s amendment” when the measure hits the floor in November.

Mr. Heinrich cited an example in his state of why the permitting overhaul is needed. The 550-mile SunZia transmission line, which carries wind-generated energy from central New Mexico to population centers in Arizona and California, took 17 years to permit and build.

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“That should have taken probably five years to figure out how to get to yes or how to get to no, a whole lot faster than that,” Mr. Heinrich said.

“We need to be able to build big things in this country again,” he said. “And if we don’t, experts like the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas have estimated that we will see 20-30% increases in the cost of electricity in the near term – not a decade from now, but a couple years from now.”

Mr. Lee said the permitting bill strikes a balance between sometimes competing interests: It supports energy development and consumers while protecting communities’ environmental interests and historic preservation.

While negotiators acknowledged some risk in waiting to pass the bill until after the midterm elections, they said they do not think the results, however they fall, will affect their agreement.

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“There is nothing sufficiently objectionable in this bill that I think either party would want to change, regardless of the outcome of the election,” Mr. Lee said. “There’s nothing to stop us from adding other things later on either side of the aisle, and some of that could be affected by the outcome of this election.”

Democrats, however, pointed to one outstanding aspect of the deal regarding whether Mr. Trump will end his executive blockades on wind and solar projects.

“That is unresolved. But we have had what I would consider to be a very reasonable opening proposal from the Trump administration,” Mr. Whitehouse said. “We need more clarity on that, and when we have more clarity on that, there’ll be back and forth to try to resolve those issues.”

Ms. Capito said the White House shares the senators’ goals of increasing energy production, related jobs and lowering energy costs.

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“And so we are very optimistic that the agreements that we have will stand,” she said.

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Lindsey McPherson

lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com

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