Capito and Whitehouse in January. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is working on a bipartisan permitting package to overhaul NEPA, its leaders said Wednesday.
Why it matters: Back-to-back floor speeches by EPW Chair Shelley Moore Capito and Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse are the clearest sign of Senate efforts to find a compromise that has proven elusive.
- Their comments came after the House Natural Resources Committee released a bipartisan proposal last week to overhaul the environmental review process.
What they're saying: "Right now, we have the momentum, I believe, needed to deliver meaningful and lasting reforms to the environmental review and permitting process," Capito said.
- Capito said the committee received 107 responses following a February hearing on the issue and 854 individual requests on how to improve the process.
- Whitehouse said it takes "far too long to build important projects in this country."
- Congress has a "golden opportunity to fix this," Whitehouse said. "We should make federal permitting faster and more efficient, all while incentivizing project developers to engage with stakeholders early on in the process rather than drag it out."
Yes, but: Whitehouse reiterated it "makes no sense" for Democrats to agree to an overhaul until Trump administration officials stop their "lawless disregard for legislative authority and judicial orders."
- He told reporters that he hopes permitting can be a bargaining chip of sorts so "maybe they'll finally come to their senses."
What we're watching: The appetite from Republicans to speed up transmission, which they have viewed as a Democratic priority.
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing last week on the rise of electricity demand that permitting bill advocates saw as a sign of movement. But it sparked partisan disagreements over what types of energy to prioritize.
- Talks in the House Energy and Commerce Committee are still in early stages.
The bottom line: The verbal commitments are a sign of progress after former EPW Chair Tom Carper stormed out of negotiations around the time talks collapsed in December.
