U.S. House Advances Several Permitting Reform Measures

Last week, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee approved seven Clean Air Act permitting bills that, if approved by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump, would represent the most comprehensive revision to the law in more than three decades.

The seven bills are:

• The New Source Review (NSR) Permitting Improvement Act, which would clarify when facility modifications trigger NSR permitting requirements.
• The Clean Air and Economic Advancement Reform Act, which would make the National Ambient Air Quality Standards process more workable for manufacturers while keeping regulatory guardrails in place to protect local communities.
• The Clean Air and Building Infrastructure Improvement Act, which would clarify preconstruction permitting and compliance requirements.
• The Air Permitting Improvements to Protect National Security Act, which would allow presidential waivers for advanced manufacturing and critical mineral facilities.
• The Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events Act, which would improve how air quality data affected by exceptional events is handled.
• The Reducing and Eliminating Duplicative Environmental Regulations Act, which would eliminate duplicative Environmental Protection Agency review of projects already subject to the National Environmental Policy Act.
• The Foreign Emissions and Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability Act, which would clarify standards for emissions originating outside the United States.

The National Association of Manufacturers offers more information about these bills at this link.