House Republicans are highlighting in their debt limit deal with the White House provisions that would change the country’s decades-old environmental laws by ending bureaucratic logjams that stall energy projects for years.
Republicans say the legislation includes changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA, to fast-track new projects by limiting certain kinds of environmental reviews to either one or two years.
“It hasn’t been reformed in 40 years. It’s a frustration with people all across this country on both sides of the aisle. Doesn’t matter if you want to build a road, build a renewable energy project, it all gets stopped and studied for years,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday. “It’s a frustration. That’s millions of dollars wasted. That is all changing now so we can build again in America.”
“This is a win for the entire country and for both sides of the aisle,” the California Republican said.
Congress has for years sought to overhaul permitting rules, but Democrats and Republicans were previously unable to reach bipartisan agreements on how to change environmental laws and streamline the process.
The GOP-led House is expected to pass the debt ceiling bill next week before it moves on to the Democrat-controlled Senate, as the country has just days until an expected June 5 default deadline.
“We are shrinking the scope [of NEPA],” said Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, one of the Republican negotiators. “NEPA has grown to study all these things that don’t have anything to do with the environment, which I would argue has worked against protecting the environment.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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