Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Negotiations on a permitting overhaul are running out of time to get a bill attached to a likely CR next week.
Why it matters: It's the last best chance for some kind of deal that combines the Manchin-Barrasso bill with Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman's NEPA proposal.
- "We're up against the clock," Westerman told Axios.
What we're hearing: Leadership has discussed permitting, but at this point talks are still centered on the committee chairs.
- "I don't feel like we're to a point where I can go to the speaker's office and say 'We got a good deal, you should look at it,'" Westerman said.
- Negotiators are working on EPW Chair Tom Carper, who objects to Westerman's broader NEPA overhaul proposals.
- But Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito told Axios they haven't made much recent progress on that front.
Between the lines: Getting a deal now might be easier than next year, given the narrow GOP margins.
- "I'm going to be a lot more open this year than I am once we get into next year, because I think next year a lot of this is going to be force-fed to us," Rep. Jared Huffman, who's bidding to be Natural Resources' ranking member, told reporters.
- Industry and advocacy groups are also making a last-ditch push for it to get done.
What we're watching: How a potential permitting bill meshes with the major NEPA case that the Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday.
- Justices don't seem interested in big new NEPA restrictions, but they are likely to limit the scope of reviews, which could impact how Congress legislates.
- Conversely, the Hill's recent changes to NEPA in the FRA seem likely to affect the outcome of the Seven County Infrastructure case.
- "There's a new law now that basically says NEPA reviews need to be faster and shorter," said Jay Johnson, a partner at Venable LLP representing the rail developer in the case. "The justices seemed maybe more aware of that than I expected them to be."
