The US House of Representatives has passed a permitting reform bill reducing the environmental scrutiny on large energy projects. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has said the bill “falls short” in its current form.
The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act would reform the environmental permitting requirements for big infrastructure projects, which were first set out in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970.
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Proponents of the SPEED bill said that US environmental regulations have become too onerous and complex, holding back infrastructure development and economic growth. But its critics have said it gives a free hand to oil and gas developments while maintaining restrictions on clean energy.
The Union of Concerned Scientists have said the bill is a “sizeable holiday gift basket for Big Oil and Gas. It includes goodies like shielding fossil fuel projects from meaningful review or public input before they are permitted, then shielding them from legal recourse after they are approved.”
Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), who introduced the bill, said it would “restore common sense and accountability to federal permitting.”
In a public statement, Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of SEIA, said: “The SPEED Act falls short of ensuring a fair and predictable permitting process that enables developers to invest, build, and compete.
“For months, SEIA and our member companies have worked relentlessly to advance permitting reform in Congress to help lower energy costs and build the infrastructure needed to win the AI race and beat China. But without action to address this unequal treatment of solar, energy projects across the country will continue to stall.”
Solar and wind projects have been subject to strict permitting rules in the US since a July Department of the Interior (DOI) memo called for renewables to undergo “elevated review” to gain approval. This involves giving secretary of the interior Doug Burgum the ability to personally approve any solar project that draws on DOI resources or has any interaction with DOI lands.
Earlier this month, SEIA led an open letter from over 150 US solar companies calling for Congress to revoke the memo and address the “unequal” permitting environment for renewables. The letter said the DOI’s approach was “unduly discriminatory and unprecedented government overreach”.
Hopper continued: “The solar industry values the bipartisan engagement on permitting reform and will continue to advocate for a deal in the US Senate that addresses the slowdown of permitting solar projects. Permitting reform that prioritises certainty and fairness will help deliver affordable energy to the American people.”
The SPEED Act still has to go through the Senate, where it may face opposition and revision, but softening environmental requirements in tandem with the DOI’s “elevated” scrutiny on renewables projects seems likely to benefit new US fossil fuel extraction, which president Trump has repeatedly advocated.
