US House moves to limit environmental reviews

OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2015. The US House of Representatives today started debate on legislation that would set a hard, three-year deadline for federal agencies to review the environmental impact of major infrastructure projects that fall under their review.

Republican lawmakers say the bill, called the RAPID Act, would expedite a review process they argue can drag on for years, delaying infrastructure projects and energy development on public lands. President Barack Obama's administration opposes the bill but has committed to speeding up infrastructure permitting.

The bill aims to expedite the process federal agencies use to review the environmental effects of decisions such as the permitting of oil and gas pipelines, transmission lines, railways and other infrastructure. The US Congress started requiring such reviews in 1970 with the National Environmental Policy Act, but Republicans contend the process needs reform.

"Our federal permitting process is undeniably broken," bill sponsor representative Tom Marino (R-Pennsylvania) said today. The legislation would remove "government obstruction" in completing environmental reviews by setting first-time deadlines on the process, he said.

The bill would give agencies two years to prepare the most comprehensive type of environmental review, after which agencies could have an additional year for "good cause." Failing to meet this deadline would functionally approve a project, with the courts unable to reverse the approval.

The bill would bar federal agencies from taking climate change into account during environmental reviews. This would reverse a practice started under Obama of using an estimated "social cost of carbon" when making permitting decisions.

The White House last week threatened to veto the bill, citing concerns it would increase regulatory delays and litigation. The House has passed nearly identical bills twice before, only to have the legislation stall in the US Senate where measures must overcome a 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster.

But the White House has recognized there are "ample opportunities" to speed up permitting. The administration on 22 September issued guidance encouraging federal agencies to review projects concurrently rather than sequentially.