Manchin will get vote on permitting bill meant to speed projects, Schumer says
Breanne Deppisch
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will force a vote on including Joe Manchin’s amended permitting reform bill in the must-pass defense spending bill, seeking to honor the agreement made to secure the West Virginia senator’s support for climate spending legislation.
Schumer said Tuesday that the chamber would vote on Manchin’s amended, renamed permitting reform legislation, which seeks to speed up the commission of energy infrastructure projects after Manchin’s earlier bill failed.
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Manchin asked colleagues to support it as an amendment to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — annual, must-pass legislation.
“Yes, we’re going to vote on that amendment,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday after a meeting with Senate leadership colleagues.
“As you know, Republicans blocked it in the House, even though permitting reform is something that they’ve always supported in the past,” he added. “So I hope they’ll help us [and] support it.”
Schumer agreed to support permitting reform in August in exchange for Manchin’s “yes” vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion in climate and clean energy spending.
Manchin’s amended bill, dubbed the Building American Energy Security Act of 2022, includes multiple changes from the original version released in September.
The amended bill sets stricter deadlines for the completion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews and gives states one year to act before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can intervene on interstate transmission projects that are deemed to be of “national interest” by the secretary of energy.
Still, it maintains provisions that would direct relevant federal agencies to “take all necessary actions” to issue new permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the stalled natural gas pipeline project that crosses Manchin’s home state of West Virginia.
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The difference between the two bills is substantial. And though its path forward remains unclear, Democratic leaders have scrambled in recent days to make good on the commitment to Manchin.
“Our energy infrastructure is under attack and America’s energy security has never been more threatened,” Manchin said in a statement last week. “Failing to pass bipartisan energy permitting reform that both Republicans and Democrats have called for will have long-term consequences for our energy independence.”