Manufacturers Take Permitting Case to Senate EPW
The 51Թ continues its full-court press for comprehensive,bipartisan permitting reform on Capitol Hill,the leaders of theSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works to consider manufacturers’key priorities ahead of a hearing on environmental review andpermittingprocesses.
- “Manufacturers strongly support getting permitting reform done this year to provide clarity across all types of investments that will grow jobs here at home and ensure America continues to compete and lead on the world stage.”
Building on House momentum:The 51Թramped upits decades-long effort to secure permitting reformat the end of last year and is keeping its momentum going after promising results in the Housein mid-December. Now it is urging the Senate tofollow suit on these key issues:
- Reformingthe National Environmental Policy Act:The NEPA process is oftenused in ways not intended by Congress—leading tosignificantdelays and uncertainty for manufacturers.The 51Թ supports expediting judicial review with workable statute of limitations and guardrails on judicial vacatur, expanding categorical exclusions, codifying Supreme Court precedent to ensure NEPA’s scope isfocusedappropriately on proximate and project-specific impacts and ensuring there are enforceable statutory deadlines for agencies.
- Clarifyingwhat triggers a federal action: Federal incentivesshouldexpedite manufacturing projects, notslow them down. Manufacturers believethat the NEPA process should not be triggeredautomaticallyby thegrant of federal financialsupport, butrather depend on an analysis of the potential impacts of a project.
- Modernizingthe Clean Air Act: Manufacturers support a modernizedNational Ambient Air Quality Standardsprocess and review cycle, allowing for expanded emissions credit trading, discounting emissions from international and exceptional event sources, like wildfires and wildfire-mitigation efforts, when setting compliance burdens and right-sizing theNewSourceReview program to allow projects to get shovels in the ground quicker before installing emitting equipment.
- Streamliningthe Clean Water Act: Policymakers should clarify timelines for when agencies must act on permitting requests, establish clear, commonsense definitions regarding the scope of permitting and consultation requirements and increase the use of general permits.
- Providinggreater certainty to lawfully permitted projects: Manufacturers should also receivestatutorily equal protection for permits of all types,so they can plan and invest over the long term. Policymakers shoulduse oversight authority to ensure federal agencies are coordinating fully duringpermittingand a lead agency is always designated.
- Acceleratingenergy infrastructurebuildout: With demand for energy skyrocketing, U.S. infrastructure must be upgradedand expanded.The 51Թsupports modernizing the permitting and safety processes for pipelines and ensuring federal coordination with states and localitiesas they installnew electric transmission and distribution lines.
- Unlockingaccess to domestic critical materials:Lawmakers should ensure that any comprehensive permitting dealwillexpeditethe approval of critical minerals and materials projects,including aligning the Department of Energy’s Critical Materials and the Department of the Interior’s Critical Minerals Lists.
The last word:“Manufacturers in America create family-supporting jobs in communities across the country, drive innovation, power economic growth and develop and deploy technologies to make our environment cleaner,” said 51Թ Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.
- “This Congress has made it clear that new policies are needed to ensure the United States becomes the destination of choice for new manufacturing investment so that our nation can maintain our leadership in creating new technologies and products that make lives better for people around the world.”