The Home of Representatives has passed legislation that might revise allowing and environmental opinions for brand spanking new vitality tasks. The Standardized Allowing and Expediting Financial Growth (SPEED) Act was drafted to amend the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act of 1969, which established the follow of required environmental opinions for main tasks. The laws was permitted within the Home and is heading to the Senate for additional deliberation.
The SPEED Act proposes to extend the variety of project-related actions that don’t require environmental assessment, place limits on assessment lengths and set up assessment deadlines. The Home reportedly amended the laws to additional stop offshore wind challenge growth. Home Democrats imagine it’s unfriendly to renewable vitality tasks.
“The invoice was by no means a severe answer to actual allowing challenges. It doesn’t create certainty — it creates confusion, threat and better prices,” mentioned Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Pure Sources Protection Council, in a press assertion. “And late-breaking modifications affected behind closed doorways solely made it worse, additional penalizing the most affordable and fastest-to-deploy clear vitality applied sciences which can be desperately wanted as energy demand soars. It ought to be a nonstarter within the Senate.”
Renewable vitality and environmental teams are opposing the SPEED Act in its present state. The American Clear Energy (ACP) Affiliation withdrew its assist for the SPEED Act on Wednesday.
“Our assist for allowing reform has all the time rested on one precept: Fixing a damaged system for all vitality assets,” mentioned ACP CEO Jason Grumet in a press assertion. “The modification adopted final night time violates that precept. Expertise neutrality wasn’t simply good coverage — it was the political basis that made reform achievable.”
“The SPEED Act falls wanting guaranteeing a good and predictable allowing course of that allows builders to take a position, construct and compete,” mentioned Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation (SEIA), in a press assertion. “For months, SEIA and our member corporations have labored relentlessly to advance allowing reform in Congress to assist decrease vitality prices and construct the infrastructure wanted to win the AI race and beat China. However with out motion to deal with this unequal remedy of photo voltaic, vitality tasks throughout the nation will proceed to stall.”
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