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The Biden administration has finalized a plan to expand and speed up permitting for energy projects on federal land in 11 western states, and conditionally approved a rule to create new and novel emissions-reduction credits in Arizona to support manufacturing growth (Reuters, subscription).

In 11 states: Released late last month, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan identifies “31 million acres best suited to solar development in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.” The lands “have high solar potential and low conflicts with wildlife and plant habitats, giving projects proposed in these locations a jumpstart on permitting.”

In Arizona: The administration also announced that the Environmental Protection Agency had conditionally approved another project to create emissions-reduction credits for companies in Maricopa, Arizona, for the transition of fleet vehicles to electric or hybrid alternatives.

• Those credits will be made available to manufacturers, which can purchase them to offset their operations emissions.
• Arizona’s Maricopa County has attracted large amounts of semiconductor-manufacturing investment recently, “and the new credits will help those facilities get up and running, the White House said.”

The big picture: The announcements reflect the growing appetite in the U.S. for permitting reform, action the NAM has long urged Congress to take.

• Encouragingly, in early August, the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024—which seeks to expedite the regulatory process for both renewable and traditional energy projects—advanced in the Senate.

Senators say: The conditional approval of the Arizona plan “represents a productive step toward protecting our air quality while supporting semiconductor production in Arizona—creating strong careers and strengthening our state’s leadership in the industries of the future,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) said in a joint statement with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) following the announcement.

• Sen. Kelly called it “important progress for Arizona’s growing clean energy manufacturing industry and our environment.”

The NAM’s take: “The NAM supports the streamlining of permitting in the west, but more remains to be done,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin.

• “Americans need an all-of-the-above energy strategy that supports affordable and reliable power from all sources, and it is critical that the EPA continue to make progress in unlocking American manufacturing’s potential by approving and implementing rules like the one in Maricopa County, which will both expand manufacturing and improve air quality.”