Senate Democrat Adds Another Permitting Bill To The Mix

Last week, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced the Building American Energy Security Act, Congress’ latest permitting reform measure aimed at speeding up approval for key energy infrastructure projects.

Sen. Manchin’s bill would:

• Set maximum timelines for permitting reviews and, if deadlines are missed, allow project sponsors to seek a court order directing agencies to finish reviews;
• Require a single inter-agency environmental review coordinated by lead agency and concurrent agency reviews for other authorizations;
• Establish page limits on environmental documents;
• Expand eligibility for the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council streamlining programs to include smaller energy projects, critical minerals and mining, and other programs;
• Improve the process for developing categorical exclusions;
• Set a 150-day statute of limitations for court challenges;
• Require courts to set litigation of energy project permits for expedited consideration;
• Require that if a federal court remands or vacates a permit, the court must set and enforce a reasonable schedule and deadline, not to exceed 180 days, for the agency to act on remand;
• Require random assignment of judges for all federal circuit courts;
• Require public reporting and a public comment opportunity on consent decrees and settlement agreements seeking to compel agency action affecting energy and natural resources projects;
• Designate and prioritize projects of strategic national importance;
• Direct the U.S. president to designate and periodically update a list of at least 25 high-priority energy infrastructure projects and prioritize permitting for these projects;
• Require a balanced list of project types, including critical minerals, nuclear, hydrogen, fossil fuels, electric transmission, renewables, along with carbon capture, sequestration, storage, and removal; and
• Establish criteria for selecting designated projects such as reducing consumer energy costs, improving energy reliability, decarbonization, and promoting energy trade with our allies.

As Connecting the Dots has reported, House Republicans and Democrats also already have each offered their own versions of permitting reform. Read more about those plans here.