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Senator Joe Manchin released the text of his proposed changes to the country’s process for permitting energy projects. The legislation proposes two-year time limits on environmental reviews, prioritization of transmission projects, and significant permitting changes under the Clean Water Act. It would also authorize the completion of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline in Manchin's state of West Virginia.
Recent research from the University of Utah found that the median time for completing an environmental impact statement was 2.8 years, while environmental assessments were completed in a median time of 1.2 years. The study found the main cause of permitting delays was a lack of expertise or staffing, suggesting that increasing funding for federal agencies may be the best way to improve efficiency.
Democratic leaders previously promised Manchin that they would pursue permitting reform in exchange for his support of the Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation is expected to be attached to a Continuing Resolution, a stopgap government funding bill. Members of both parties are expressing resistance to the bill.
“These dangerous permitting shortcuts have been on industry wish lists for years. And now they’ve added the Mountain Valley Pipeline approval as the rotten cherry on top of the pile,” Representative Raúl Grijalva said in a statement. “The communities that are already hit hardest by the fossil fuel industry’s messes certainly don’t want or deserve this. Right now, our focus should be on keeping the government open, not destructive, unrelated riders. I urge leadership to listen to the many members asking to keep this out of a Continuing Resolution and avoid a shutdown standoff this country doesn’t need.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are also hesitant about the bill and many are backing an alternative bill from Senator Shelley Moore Capito that would also shorten the timeline for environmental reviews.
Is Camp Hale our next national monument?
In the latest episode of The Landscape, Aaron and Kate talk to Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. VVF is one of the sponsors of a hike and rally for the proposed Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, coming up tomorrow, which is also National Public Lands Day.
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The policy-making process has been left up to the seven basin states and the federal government. We want to speak on behalf of our own water. We’ve heard a whole lot about scarcity and pain, and we know a whole lot about that. We’re asking, we’re demanding participation because it is a basic human right.”
