U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), members of the Problem Solvers Caucus, joined their Democratic colleagues in applauding new permitting reform priorities released by the National Governor’s Association (NGA).
“We welcome the National Governors Association’s release of their permitting reform priorities,” the members said in a joint statement released Oct. 31. “It is encouraging to see so much overlap with the Problem Solvers Caucus Permitting Reform Framework released last month.”
The NGA on Oct. 28 sent a letter to congressional leaders overseeing energy, transportation, and natural resources to share their key priorities related to the lawmakers’ efforts to improve federal permitting and regulatory processes, and NGA members included several reforms for consideration.
Rep. Evans and Rep. Fitzpatrick, alongside U.S. Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), said the alignment between the NGA recommendations and those made by their caucus underscore broad bipartisan agreement on myriad reforms, including:
- Adopting a common interagency digital permitting system to streamline and modernize the process;
- Urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take a stronger role in permitting transmission, while reforming the broken National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor System;
- Expanding categorical exclusions in low-disturbance areas, such as existing rights of way, low-disturbance transmission and generation, and geothermal exploration;
- Reforming the National Environmental Policy Act by better encouraging early community engagement, streamlining the litigation process, and ensuring that federal funding alone cannot subject applicants to onerous federal reviews; and
- Making it easier to permit nuclear energy production projects.
“This letter is a wake-up call to Congress that our states need us to act on permitting reform to ensure we can meet energy demand, reduce costs, and compete against China in energy innovation,” said Reps. Evans and Fitzpatrick and their caucus colleagues regarding the NGA letter. “Our bipartisan Permitting Reform Framework is a roadmap to do just that.”
They also said they look forward to working with the NGA as part of the growing coalition focused on meeting the current environmental challenges and investing in a secure grid for this century.
“We will continue working with our colleagues in Congress to pass common-sense permitting reform into law,” they said in their joint statement.