Democrats and Republicans alike are calling for an overhaul of the way infrastructure is approved and built in the United States. They’re just moving further and further apart on how to actually do it.
Partisan fighting and intraparty tensions over a slate of permitting reform bills are signaling that the once bipartisan policy goal may once again stall in Congress, even as lawmakers emphasize the need for more energy infrastructure and housing to tackle the growing cost-of-living crisis.
“Polarization is part of everything, so I’m sure it has a role here at some level,” Marc Boom, a former senior adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration, told NOTUS. “The best solution is going to be one that leaves everyone happy, and the path that I’m seeing doesn’t seem like that.”
A group of conservative Republican lawmakers is threatening to withhold support from a bipartisan bill that would overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act, a key permitting statute. Why? It has a measure that would provide wins for renewable energy developers who want to insulate their projects from a Trump administration crackdown.
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Progressive Democrats and environmentalists, meanwhile, are upset that the bill would weaken community input and environmental review on proposed projects.
The impending vote on the SPEED Act comes after lawmakers got into a fiery debate on the House floor last Thursday over a bill that would weaken the scope of reviews under the Clean Water Act. Republicans said that bill would speed up infrastructure, but most Democrats criticized it on environmental grounds.
“You will hear no argument from me about the need for permitting reform,” Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten said on the floor ahead of a vote on the bill. “We do need reform, but this bill is not what we need. It doesn’t just cut red tape, it cuts all the tape that has protected our clean water for 50 years.”
The bill passed, with a handful of moderate Democrats joining most Republicans in voting “yes.” So did a different bill that would speed up permitting for natural gas pipelines.
But both came with some mudslinging.
Republican Rep. David Taylor said his “colleagues across the aisle continue to promote the fallacy of improving permit processes comes at the expense of the environment.”
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal called the Clean Water Act legislation “Republicans’ latest attempt to help corporate polluters dodge responsibility.”
Outside the halls of Congress, permitting reform advocates are hinging hope on the bigger picture: that both parties say they want to get something done.
“There’s a real chance that we can find a path forward on a bill that really is a win-win for everybody,” Xan Fishman, the vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy program, told NOTUS.
“There are a few exceptions on both sides, but it seems like they all understand the need for permitting reform, and they’re working towards permitting reform, which is always a good thing when you’ve got both parties willing to compromise a little bit,” John Szoka, the CEO of the Conservative Energy Network, told NOTUS.
Among the areas of compromise: a bill to digitize the federal permitting process passed the House unanimously this week.
But that’s only a small segment of the permitting reform debate.
This week is likely to highlight the divisions.
And despite some optimism from key lawmakers — Sen. Martin Heinrich said this week that members of Congress are “more aligned” on permitting reform than on “some of the other spaces” — the potential for a deal could fizzle out at any point.
In the upper chamber, three Democratic senators said they won’t support any permitting reform legislation that doesn’t include stronger language about protecting renewables and building transmission infrastructure.
It’s prompted increasing concerns about Congress’ ability to compromise, which multiple lawmakers have said this year is going down the drain.
“There’s a drop-off in the number of bills passed out of Congress, not just this administration from previous administrations,” Szoka said. “I think what’s in the SPEED Act works. Now, we’ll see if it can get through the Senate.”
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