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By API – American Petroleum Institute
Almost 100 years ago, Americans built the Empire State Building, Hoover Dam and Golden Gate Bridge — projects that still define our country’s skyline. What might shock you is that while they were built with the tools and technology of another era, they each took less time to complete than many critical energy projects take today.
America doesn’t lack the workers, resources, technology or capital to build big things. What it increasingly lacks is a permitting system that can keep pace, and the result is higher costs, delayed investments, and projects stuck in uncertainty.
Three parts of the federal permitting process account for many of today’s delays: environmental reviews, state permitting and litigation. As Congress considers bipartisan reforms, this edition of American Energy Snapshot explains how each works — and why they matter to America’s energy future.
Clean Water Act: How state reviews turn one-year deadlines into multi-year delays
- What it is: Many projects require state review under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to make sure they meet water quality standards. That review is required to pertain to water quality impacts and happen within a one-year deadline.
- What’s broken: Some states have repeatedly asked developers to withdraw and resubmit applications, often for reasons unrelated to water quality, restarting the one-year clock and turning a one-year review into years of delay — as happened with the Constitution Pipeline.
- How reform helps: Amending the CWA to reinforce the one-year deadline for state action and clarify that reviews should focus only on water quality impacts will create more certainty for developers and the communities counting on access to reliable energy.
NEPA: Reviews far beyond the project itself
- What it is: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a foundational environmental review law, intended to assess the environmental impact of major projects before they start.
- What’s broken: NEPA became law in 1970, and over time, reviews have expanded far beyond a project’s direct impacts, growing longer, more expensive and more vulnerable to litigation.
- How reform helps: Narrowing NEPA reviews would give agencies clearer direction, could lower costs and help prevent major investments from being abandoned after years of progress.
Endless lawsuits: Even permitted projects can face years in court — and higher costs
- What it is: Judicial review gives people directly affected by a project a way to challenge permits if they believe agencies failed to follow the law.
- What’s broken: Today, there are few limits on who can sue. As a result, groups with little connection to a project can drag permits into court for years. The Mountain Valley Pipeline, for example, remained tied up in litigation for nearly six years after construction began, ultimately requiring an act of Congress to move forward while costs nearly tripled.
- How reform helps: Setting reasonable timelines for legal challenges and ensuring challenges only come from those impacted would preserve the rights of those impacted by projects, while reducing predatory litigation that creates delays.
The takeaway
America has proven it can build extraordinary things. Today, the greatest obstacle often isn’t engineering, technology or investment — it’s permitting.
Momentum for reform is growing in both parties. The House has advanced major permitting legislation through the bipartisan SPEED Act, led by Reps. Bruce Westerman and Jared Golden, along with the PERMIT Act led by Rep. Mike Collins and legislation from Rep. Richard Hudson to streamline pipeline reviews. In the Senate, Sen. Alan Armstrong, a former API Board Member with decades of firsthand experience working on energy infrastructure issues, has introduced a broader permitting package that builds on many of these same reforms.
As Senate committees conclude negotiations, now is the time to get this done and send a bipartisan bill to the president. If we are going to meet rising demand, strengthen energy security and make energy more affordable, permitting reform is essential.
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