The GOP-led House of Representatives is off and running, the Senate has confirmed new energy and environment Cabinet members, and the Trump administration is releasing executive orders to expedite the arrival of American energy dominance. Last month, President Donald Trump took a critical step toward unleashing U.S. energy resources: The Council on Environmental Quality issued an interim final rule to rescind the existing implementation guidelines for the National Environmental Policy Act. To ensure certainty for American developers, the new Republican trifecta must build on this action to provide lasting permitting relief.
Permitting reform is essential to build major infrastructure in America — from energy and manufacturing projects to roads, bridges, and waterways.
Under the Biden administration, red tape created delays that cost the United States time, money, and security. It takes over five years to permit the average highway project, and building basic power lines can now take over 15 years. The lack of comprehensive permitting reform jeopardizes $100 billion in investment and 150,000 energy jobs. Decadeslong delays sabotage domestic mining projects that would reduce dependence on China, which dominates the global market on critical minerals.
NEPA’s requirements far surpass necessary environmental protections, stifling the timely and economical development of major construction in America. For the U.S. to be truly energy-dominant, it must build and produce faster. Getting the government out of the way will save time and money while bolstering national security.
There are three key opportunities for Republicans to capitalize on this moment and achieve lasting permitting reform.
The first path to permitting reform is one that the executive branch takes alone. The Trump administration has already pursued this course of action, using emergency authorities and executive orders to curtail the CEQ’s authority appropriately. Instead of simply proposing new regulations, as Trump did in his first term, this time, the Trump White House took a sledgehammer to the process, deleting decades of NEPA implementing regulations in one interim final rule.
While there is much left to be done in limiting the application of NEPA — reforms such as defining what actions require a NEPA review and what environmental impacts can be considered in the scope of that review — the Trump administration has taken a bold and decisive first step. However, any future president can undo these actions, much like former President Joe Biden did with the progress made in Trump’s first term.
The second opportunity for reform is through reconciliation in Congress. This process allows for passing legislation that affects spending or revenue with a simple majority instead of 60 votes. After bipartisan efforts to move permitting reform through regular order failed under Democratic leadership in the Senate last Congress, Republicans could move pieces of that proposal through reconciliation. That includes reforms designed to speed energy production, such as mandating lease sales on federal lands and waters for mineral, fossil, and renewable energy projects. It could also include proposals that allow project developers to pay to fast-track the permitting process. But since key items for permitting reform do not necessarily have budgetary impacts, legislative action on permitting through reconciliation remains limited and at the mercy of the Senate parliamentarian.
The third path is using the legislative process to enact more durable laws, likely requiring bipartisan support. One example is limiting the time frame for judicial review, which would decrease construction delays and prevent the kind of frivolous lawsuits that derail all kinds of energy projects. Another could be codifying changes expected under the Trump administration, ensuring that reining in NEPA is permanent, regardless of political control in the White House. These reforms could benefit a range of major projects, including clean energy, and should receive the bipartisan support necessary to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate if attached to the right legislative vehicle.
For lasting reform, we need all of the above approaches instead of merely one. Executive action is vital to solving our permitting backlog, but we cannot rely only on the executive branch when good policy can be easily discarded by the next political leader.
Moving legislative permitting reform will not be easy. Bold permitting reform must pass through the House’s Natural Resources, Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees — and likely affects the Senate’s committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works. Crafting a comprehensive permitting reform bill in the upper chamber that only falls within the jurisdiction of one House committee is simply impossible. But by starting in the House and working together with the Senate, Congress can send lasting permitting reform to the president’s desk.
Some might argue that Republicans should only care about permitting reform for fossil fuel projects and exclude energy technologies such as nuclear and geothermal energy, renewables, and hydropower. But government regulation should not be a hurdle to building in America.
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Soaring power demand from artificial intelligence, data centers, and manufacturing is putting new strains on the electrical grid. Now more than ever, we need all the power we can generate.
The Republican-controlled House, Senate, and White House can meet this demand by permanently changing our permitting system. Making it easier to build will strengthen national security, grow the economy, and lower energy prices for hardworking Americans. By reforming our permitting process, this Republican trifecta can achieve U.S. energy dominance for generations to come.
Emily Domenech is senior vice president at Boundary Stone Partners, the former senior policy adviser to Speakers Mike Johnson and Kevin McCarthy, and the co-host of the Political Climate podcast.