House passes bill to ease permits for building out AI infrastructure

by · CNBC

Key Points

  • The House of Representatives approved the SPEED Act, which would reform U.S. permitting law to speed up the build-out of infrastructure key to artificial intelligence.
  • The bill is supported by Big Tech giants like OpenAI, Micron and Microsoft.
  • The Senate is in the early stages of its own permitting talks.

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill aimed at making it easier to get federal permits to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence projects.

The bill, known as the SPEED Act, is backed Big Tech giants such as OpenAI, Micron and Microsoft

The bill cleared the House in a 221-196 vote, overcoming a conservative rebellion that nearly sank the legislation in a procedural vote earlier this week.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is likely to be part of a larger conversation around permitting reform. 

The SPEED Act's proponents argue it is critical to help the U.S. outpace China and other global competitors in the race for AI dominance. 

"The electricity we will need to power AI computing for civilian and military use is a national imperative," said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., the bill's sponsor and chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. 

The SPEED Act would reform the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates federal reviews for projects that would impact the environment.

It would tighten the timelines for NEPA reviews and shrink the statute of limitations for NEPA litigation to 150 days from the current six years. 

Permitting reform has drawn bipartisan support recently as clean energy projects supported by Democrats became ensnared in permitting delays.

Pressure has built on Congress to act as AI has emerged as a key sector and power-hungry data centers have placed an increased strain on the electric grid. 

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The Democratic cosponsor of the bill, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, said the SPEED Act would allow the U.S. to be "nimble enough to build what we need, when we need it."

Most Democrats opposed the SPEED Act, however, demanding that any permitting bill overturn President Donald Trump's moves to choke renewable energy sources like offshore wind. 

Democratic resistance was only compounded after GOP leadership inserted language to exempt Trump's efforts to block renewables from provisions in the SPEED Act that would limit the White House's ability to arbitrarily yank permits it does not like.

The amendment was added after a standoff on the House floor during a procedural vote, where conservatives opposed to renewable energy demanded concessions for their votes.

"That provision codifies a broken permitting status quo," said Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., who supports permitting reform but opposed the SPEED Act.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle in the Senate to craft a bipartisan product that can become law."