Rep. Garret Graves
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) on Wednesday revealed plans to submit a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would overturn a new federal rule that revises regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Known as the NEPA Phase II Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on May 1 by the Council on Environmental Quality, Rep. Graves and his colleagues say the rule will bog down the ability to permit infrastructure projects, make them harder to build, and waste taxpayer dollars.
“As written by the White House, the rule includes definitions that favor certain groups over others instead of keeping a level playing field for all types of projects,” Rep. Graves said on May 8. “It also finds loopholes to extend page limits in reviews and does nothing to curb frivolous litigation intended to delay dirt turning.”
Lawmakers last year negotiated a permitting agreement with the Biden administration that included provisions to cut red tape, but Rep. Graves and his colleagues say the new rule kills those reforms through additional provisions that will further delay the permitting process.
“Bottom line: instead of simply implementing the bipartisan, common-sense reforms included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, they loaded up this rule with new requirements to help agencies and litigators run out the clock on the types of projects they don’t like,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). “This undermines the bipartisan deal the administration made with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.”
Sen. Manchin and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) will join Rep. Graves in introducing the CRA to end the new NEPA rule.
“The NEPA Phase II rule is a blatant violation of the actual bipartisan agreement that we negotiated and President Biden signed into law last year,” said Rep. Graves. “It veers completely off course of our goal to cut red tape in the permitting process.”
“Plain and simple, this is just another example of complete administrative overreach that will hurt every major project — from ports to wetland restoration to renewables and oil and gas,” he added. “We will continue to fight for streamlined permitting laws so that they no longer hinder the protection of the people and resources they are meant to serve.”