Permitting reform left out of key spending bill
WASHINGTON — Efforts to speed up federal permitting for large infrastructure projects such as pipelines and power lines have suffered another setback, after Democrats and Republicans declined to include West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's permitting legislation in their year-end defense spending bill.
Top Democrats had been in discussions about including permitting reform in the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual spending bill that funds the U.S. military. But late Tuesday, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees released text for the legislation without the provision to speed up a federal permitting process that takes years to complete.
In September, Manchin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, had introduced legislation limiting that review process to two years, championing his bill as a means to speed renewable energy development while also increasing the production of fossil fuels on which the country largely still relies.
“Failing to pass bipartisan energy permitting reform that both Republicans and Democrats have called for will have long-term consequences for our energy independence,” Manchin said. “The American
people will pay the steepest price for Washington once again failing to put commonsense policy ahead of toxic tribal politics.”
President Joe Biden had endorsed using the defense spending bill to pass permitting reform, but Manchin's legislation drew pushback from more progressive members of the party and environmental groups, who argued that it was a giveaway to fossil fuel industries.
On Tuesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus announced that it was formally opposing the inclusion of permitting reform in the defense bill.
“While many within the (caucus) are supportive of accelerating and expanding renewable energy transmission, progressives have raised objections to a specific approach under consideration that entrenches new fossil fuel infrastructure,” the group said in a statement.
Republicans also opposed the legislation, saying it did not go far enough in reforming how federal agencies conduct environmental reviews.
The decision is a setback for oil and gas companies that have complained for years about the waits for approval of projects including liquefied natural gas and oil export terminals and natural gas pipelines.
The industry had been lukewarm on the legislation, which Manchin introduced in September. Jason Modglin, president of the trade group Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, said the bill could have been “more aggressive,” but his group did not oppose it.
“We were heartened he's still pushing on it,” Modglin said. “Permitting reform is an opportunity to expand markers for natural gas, whether it's (Northeast) states that are constrained or around the world. Those are fantastic opportunities for the state of Texas.”