Time to Amend ‘Outdated’ Laws Like National Environmental Policy Act: House Republicans

A worker tosses a hammer to a colleague as freeway construction continues on the State Route 73 southern interchange from the Interstate 405 in Costa Mesa, Calif., on April 21, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

House Republicans are looking to take the mantle of permitting reform after Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.V.) legislative pursuits to speed up approval and construction of new energy projects failed to pass in the Senate at the end of 2022.

The House Committee on Natural Resources held an initial legislative hearing on Tuesday to assess permitting reform legislation that would help accelerate shovel-ready projects across the country.

One of these bills was the Building United States through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) and co-sponsored by many of his Republican colleagues.

A much-discussed component of the bill would be to modernize the “outdated” National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Proponents argue that updating the NEPA would allow infrastructure project reviews to be more efficient while cutting project costs and facilitating economic development.

“NEPA has been invaluable too, but it is not working for 21st century needs. It’s time to update and modernize it, making it a powerful force for good rather than a weapon by which environmental groups blocked projects,” said Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.).

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) speaks during a news conference in Washington, on Sept. 12, 2019. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

Without the necessary reforms, the United States will find it challenging to re-establish energy independence or even achieve President Joe Biden’s clean energy and zero-emission objectives, Westerman noted. He cited the roughly $369 billion in funding over ten years for battery storage, offshore wind, and heat pumps that “will not be possible to” achieve without changes to current regulations, rules, and procedures.

“It’s baffling that many of my Democratic colleagues seem content to let the status quo choke out American innovation and ingenuity, including the very renewable projects they claim to support,” Westerman stated.

Former President Donald Trump had revamped the half-century-old NEPA to bolster industry and fast-track projects that experience years-long delays due to regulatory roadblocks. His administration had described these efforts as “the most significant deregulatory proposal.”

However, President Joe Biden reversed the Trump-era decisions and restored many substantial safeguards to the environmental law pertaining to building highways, pipelines, and other critical infrastructure ventures. In addition, the White House finalized rules allowing regulators to determine how these projects could contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and if they might negatively impact communities, particularly impoverished and minority neighborhoods.

But Rep. Graves contends that his bill adopts a “common sense approach” to protecting the environment and ensuring important projects are started and completed.

“It doesn’t block public participation. It respects and, I think, increases the focus on environmental outcomes. It stops frivolous lawsuits,” he said during the hearing. “And at the end of the day, Mr. Chairman, most importantly, it helps us move forward on projects that actually achieve outcomes that are positive because, at the end of the day, projects don’t achieve benefits until they’re actually implemented.”

Democrats assert that “the extreme GOP platform” proposes gutting environmental protections by vilifying the federal government rather than studying the alternative causes for project delays, such as the lack of capacity at federal agencies, market conditions, and state and local laws.

“You probably noticed that not one of these causes is NEPA,” said Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).