On September 21, 2022, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released his long-awaited permitting reform legislation.[1] The permitting reform legislation follows a deal made between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Joe Biden and Senator Manchin, wherein the Democratic leaders agreed to include permitting reform legislation in the upcoming continuing resolution (CR) in exchange for Manchin’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.
According to the bill summary, the legislation would require the president to designate 25 strategically important energy and mineral projects that would receive priority federal review. The bill also aims to speed up environmental reviews for major energy and natural resource projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Federal agencies would be required to finish environmental impact statements within two years and environmental assessments within a year. It would also require the issuance of all other permits within 180 days of finishing the NEPA process.
In addition, the legislation sets a 150-day statute of limitations for court challenges and requires courts to give agencies no more than 180 days to act on remanded or vacated permits. It also requires federal agencies to approve the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, which is set to run from West Virginia to southern Virginia. The bill would give the Department of Energy (DOE) secretary the ability to designate proposed transmission projects to be in the national interest and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve them if they meet certain conditions. It also clarifies that FERC has jurisdiction over hydrogen pipelines.
Manchin’s proposed permitting reform could be included in a continuing resolution to keep funding the federal government after this fiscal year ends on September 30, 2022. Unlike the IRA, which was passed through a budget reconciliation measure[2], the continuing resolution will need at least 60 votes to pass, meaning that bipartisan support will be necessary.
[1] https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/EAB527DC-FA23-4BA9-B3C6-6AB108626F02?utm_source=DCS+Congressional+E-mail&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.energy.senate.gov%2fservices%2ffiles%2fEAB527DC-FA23-4BA9-B3C6-6AB108626F02&utm_campaign=MANCHIN+RELEASES+COMPREHENSIVE+PERMITTING+REFORM+TEXT+TO+BE+INCLUDED+IN+CONTINUING+RESOLUTION
[2] Reconciliation is a special process used to quickly advance high-priority fiscal legislation. It can only be used for things that change spending or revenue. Reconciliation only needs a simple majority (51 votes) to pass through the Senate.