U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) on Jan. 9 released a discussion draft for the bipartisan Create Expedited Reviews to Transform American Infrastructure Now (CERTAIN) Act, which aims to transform the federal permitting process and meet America’s energy and electricity needs.
“As the representative of a truly all-of-the-above energy district, I hear from oil and gas and renewable energy producers alike that overburdensome permitting processes and lack of permit certainty has plagued investment and delayed innovation,” Rep. Evans said. “Across the U.S., modernizing how we permit our infrastructure is absolutely vital to meeting our growing energy demand and lowering costs for working families.”
Rep. Evans and Rep. Garbarino joined two Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), to release the discussion draft, which outlines their effort to comprehensively address permitting reform, which they said is increasingly an area of bipartisan consensus, especially as energy demand rises and costs continue to increase.
However, the nation’s existing permitting regime has failed to ensure project permitting is on-time, efficient, and fair for all project types, they said.
“Endless permitting roadblocks hurt communities and drive up energy costs,” said Garbarino. “I’m proud to co-lead the bipartisan CERTAIN Act to bring transparency and accountability to the permitting process and ensure projects that meet their requirements can move forward on time.”
The CERTAIN Act would build upon ongoing permitting reform efforts in Congress to secure permit certainty for all types of energy projects, ensuring federal agencies handle project authorizations and environmental reviews fairly and efficiently, with clear timelines, notice requirements, and accountability, according to the discussion draft summary.
The measure also would emphasize coordination between different agencies involved in these processes to avoid unnecessary delays, and would streamline the federal permitting process, making the environmental review and decision-making process faster and more certain, say the lawmakers.
Specifically, the bill would ensure that lawfully issued permits that remain in compliance are safeguarded from political interference; specific deadlines, timelines, and milestones are set for federal agencies in the environmental review process; and that federal agencies analyze and respond to workforce and technical needs, ensuring they can meet statutory obligations for environmental reviews, the summary says.