The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on Jan. 28 held a hearing to examine federal environmental review and permitting processes.
The hearing highlighted bipartisan agreement between Republican and Democratic members of the committee on developing policy to remove political considerations from the infrastructure permitting process.
The committee heard from the following witnesses: Brendan Bechtel, chair of the Smart Regulation Committee at the Business Roundtable; Brent Booker, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA); Dustin Meter, senior vice president of policy, economics, and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute; Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association; and David Terry, president of the National Association of State Energy Officials.
All of the witnesses agreed that reforming the federal permitting process is necessary to meet the rising demand for electricity and effectively build infrastructure:
Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) stated that the momentum and consensus behind federal permitting reform is stronger than ever, and unless Congress acts, she said, “we are likely to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) framed the issue as the legislative branch versus the executive branch, and not Republicans versus Democrats on the committee. His position remains that he will not reopen negotiations on permitting reform until the administration changes its position on permitting restrictions for wind and solar projects. He stated his desire to prevent executive overreach by stopping the rescission of permits for approved projects for political purposes and to pursue a technology-neutral approach when reviewing permit applications.
Federal courts have issued injunctions against the administration’s decision to revoke permits for several offshore wind projects, including Revolution Wind off the state of Rhode Island.
Republican and Democratic senators expressed their appreciation for the House’s work in passing H.R. 4776, the SPEED Act, H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act, and H.R. 4503, the ePermit Act. APPA strongly supports these bills.
The SPEED Act would make reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and permitting process, including adding judicial review timelines and standards for challenging NEPA determinations. The PERMIT Act would reform permitting under the Clean Water Act and adds similar judicial review provisions to the SPEED Act. The ePermit Act would digitize the federal permitting process to improve interagency review.
The witnesses agreed that permitting certainty is an important component of any permitting reform proposal. Democrats in the House and Senate raised this issue because of the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) July 2025 memo requiring numerous additional approvals for renewable energy projects on federal lands, namely wind and solar. Democratic senators, led by Ranking Member Whitehouse, have paused bipartisan negotiations until the administration changes course and removes the specific requirements for renewable energy projects.
Republicans, including Chairman Capito, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), said they understand the frustration Democratic members feel because the previous administration canceled oil and gas projects after permits were approved, such as the revocation of the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline in 2021.
Whitehouse said that industry should engage the administration to move the policy conversation forward by urging the administration to remove the wind and solar restrictions imposed by DOI.
He said he would like reforms that promote early stakeholder engagement and fix the interagency review process. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) appreciated the House’s effort on permitting certainty but said it does not go far enough to ensure that an administration cannot prevent a technology from advancing through the permitting process.
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) warned that a future Democratic administration would use similar restrictive approaches on oil and gas projects.
The panel of witnesses agreed that permitting reform should include transmission components.
EPW is working with the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee on this issue because it is not in its jurisdiction. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) specifically discussed CWA permitting reform for linear projects and cost allocation for transmission reform, stating he would like more flexibility for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding cost allocation and siting of transmission infrastructure.
