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October 3, 2022

Permitting Reform Nixed From Spending Bill At Last Minute

U.S. lawmakers have approved, and President Joe Biden has signed, a short-term stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government funded until early December 2022.

As Connecting the Dots reported last week, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had been fighting to include provisions in the bill that would speed up federal approval of vital energy projects. Those reforms did not make it in the final piece of legislation, unfortunately, due to opposition from Republicans who wanted stronger changes and some Democrats, who opposed any reform of current rules.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who had agreed to work with Sen. Manchin to get the measures into the spending package, said Congress could try again later this fall. Indeed, according to The Hill, Sen. Schumer said he “will continue to have conversations about the best way to ensure responsible permitting reform is passed before the end of the year.”

Sen. Manchin’s bill, which is called the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, contains many positive reforms that MSCI and other industry groups have supported for many years. Generally, the bill would significantly simplify and shorten required project environmental reviews, prevent abuses by state permitting agencies, and reduce opportunities for opposition groups to tie up required permits in endless litigation. It also would expedite offshore oil leases and make it easier to add wind and solar power to the nation’s electricity grid.

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