Industry groups applaud permitting reform provisions included in debt ceiling agreement

The deal on Sunday that was reached between the White House and House Republicans to suspend the federal debt limit includes provisions that make progress toward implementing permitting reforms to speed up energy projects.

Energy industry trade organizations praised the bipartisan efforts to reach a debt ceiling deal and underscored the importance of reforming the current permitting process that results in long delays in completing energy infrastructure projects. The House and Senate must pass the legislation this week and it must be signed by the president in order for the United States to avoid default as early as June 5.

“EEI and our member companies commend President Biden and Speaker McCarthy for working together to reach a bipartisan resolution on the debt ceiling. The siting and permitting elements of the deal will make important improvements that create a more efficient, environmentally sound, and legally durable process for deploying new energy infrastructure and upgrading existing infrastructure,” Edison Electric Institute President and CEO Tom Kuhn said. “Having a clear, coordinated, consistent, and efficient permitting process is essential for our industry and for America’s electric companies as we make critical investments in our nation’s energy grid.

As part of the deal, the nation’s permitting laws would be overhauled. The agreed-upon provisions would streamline the environmental review process, designate one lead agency to be tasked with environmental reviews and establish clear timelines for conducting environmental reviews, among other provisions. The changes are designed to speed up the process in which new projects are approved.

“We applaud Congress and the Biden administration for reaching a bipartisan agreement that includes important progress on permitting reform. Our current system for reviewing the infrastructure projects that fuel our economy and support our way of life did not become an endless gauntlet of bureaucratic hurdles overnight, and it will take more than one step to develop a workable process. This is a positive start, and we look forward to continuing to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to pass this agreement and build on this progress,” American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers said.

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) also supports permitting reform.

“The debt ceiling agreement includes an important down payment on much-needed reforms to improve the efficiency of the permitting process for clean energy projects, including reasonable timelines for completing environmental reviews, common-sense lead agency authority and expedited consideration for qualifying energy storage projects,” ACP CEO Jason Grumet said. “However, it is critical that Congress build upon these initial steps. Absent significant improvements in the siting and construction of new clean power transmission capabilities, our nation will fail to achieve critical economic, national security and climate goals.”

Once the debt ceiling deal is approved in the coming days, Grumet said ACP is looking forward to working with Congress on bipartisan permitting and transmission reform legislation to ensure that the clean energy industry can build on the more than $150 billion in new project investments in the pipeline.