Permitting talks back on the agenda this week

The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act.

September 08, 2025

There’s plenty of talk of permitting reform on Capitol Hill these days, but whether that will turn into real progress remains to be seen.

A House Natural Resources hearing this week may offer some clues, with Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) planning to push his H.R. 4776, the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act," co-sponsored by moderate Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.

Also on the agenda are H.R. 573, the "Studying NEPA’s Impact on Projects Act," from Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.), and H.R. 4503, the “ePermit Act” from Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.).

“We’re going to be pushing [permitting] hard in the Resources committee,” Westerman said last week.

His bill with Golden will likely generate the most fireworks. Democrats on the left, like ranking member Jared Huffman, have already balked at the bill.

The legislation aims to cut down on litigation. It would also narrow the scope for what triggers a NEPA review by redefining “major federal action.”

"Chairman Westerman has taken the most tired lie in Washington — that NEPA is to blame for America’s permitting problems — and spun it into an assault on our environmental protections and public input,” Huffman said in July.

Huffman and other Democrats like Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse have said they continue to be open to a grand bargain on permitting that would include changes to environmental laws but also improved transmission. That doesn't mean talks are at an advanced stage.

“Whatever is happening is happening with folks who probably don’t want an environmentalist in the room, so I will be reading about it in your publication, probably," Huffman said.

Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a moderate on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been more bullish on a deal — including one that includes deep changes to NEPA.

One idea is to revive the old "pipes and wires" framework, which would make it easier to build interstate pipelines (generally a Republican priority) as well as transmission lines (a Democratic priority), according to a House Democratic aide granted anonymity to talk freely.

"The wrench in all of it is the administration’s anti-clean-energy moves and what the trust factor on permitting reform is if the president can just unilaterally block projects on ideological grounds,” the Democratic aide said.

Peters and — notably — E&C Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) appeared onstage at a conference in Washington last week focused on abundance, an event to promote a growing movement to cut red-tape and foster entrepreneurial ideas.

The pair discussed rising energy demand, among other things, according to people familiar with the conversation. There was also some discussion of reviving last year’s permitting bill from then-Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

At a separate event, Jarrod Agen, executive director of the White House's National Energy Dominance Council, said the president wanted to get things done fast.

"Being able to build pipelines in this country and transmission lines, that is a key priority when we look at the permitting reform," said Agen. "It’s probably the top priority for us from an energy perspective — what we’re going to do now that the legislature is back."

Also this week, a separate House Natural Resources hearing will focus on the economic benefits of energy development. And the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will question witnesses on Indian Country's energy needs.


By:  Kelsey Brugger
Source: Politico Pro