Senate Climate Change Bill Sets Stage for Project Permit Reforms

Abstract

Liam Donovan, a principal at Bracewell, LLP, a strategic communications and law firm, adds that the process could also be delayed by the current Senate parliamentarian, who he says has taken "Longer than expected at every turn dating back to last fall." However, Donovan says, "If and when the bill passes the Senate, it will achieve escape velocity, and the House is almost certain to follow." Permit Reform DetailedAlthough exact wording of the permit reform legislation has yet to be determined, Manchin's office released a document summarizing "Energy permitting provisions" that will likely form the basis of the measure. The provisions include placing a two-year limit on federal environmental reviews of currently undefined "Major" energy projects, and one year for smaller projects, according to the Manchin document. Ross Pilotte, senior vice president of the non-profit Permitting Institute, which advocates for infrastructure permit improvements, calls the proposal "a good starting point for the reformation of the permitting process in this country," one that represents "a significant set of stepping stones that will allow us to get to a place where we will start seeing project permitting times decrease."Pilotte formerly served as a senior advisor on the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council during the Trump adminstration. Criteria for the list would include projects that reduce consumer energy costs, improve energy reliability, hold decarbonization potential and promote energy trade with U.S. allies. The Mountain Valley pipeline is the sole specified project in the agreement and a longtime priority for Manchin, who recently asserted that the nearly completed project should be "At the top of the heap" of U.S. energy infrastructure. Citing the pending legal and permit actions, lead project developer Equitrans Midstream asked FERC in June to extend the pipeline's completion target to 2026.Manchin's list of provisions calls for relevant agencies "To take all necessary actions to permit the construction and operation" of Mountain Valley. John Milko, a consultant for the climate and energy program at Third Way, says that the incentives for low carbon material procurement, coupled with tax credits for solar, wind, carbon capture and utilization, and other projects geared toward decarbonization on the energy supply side, would work synergistically.