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The House Natural Resources Committee has approved Chairman Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) bipartisan Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776) in a 25–18 vote, sending bipartisan comprehensive permitting reform to the House floor (POLITICO, subscription).
 
Why it matters: The NAM-backed legislation makes crucial reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act, the law that governs how federal agencies review the environmental impacts of major projects. Reforming the NEPA process is a pillar of the NAM’s Manufacturing’s Roadmap to AI and Energy Dominance—and takes another step forward toward comprehensive permitting reform.

• It also limits who can challenge a permit, clarifies the definition of major federal actions, prevents duplication in reviews, expands the use of categorical exclusions and locks the Supreme Court decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County.

What’s new: During yesterday’s markup, lawmakers added language to make it harder for the executive branch to cancel permits for energy projects.

The NAM says: The NAM has long championed the bill , calling it a “meaningful step forward by Chairman Westerman and his colleagues to modernize our broken permitting system” on X.

• “It is critical that Congress and the Trump administration work together to enact bipartisan legislation like the SPEED Act into law to pave the way for manufacturers to innovate, build and grow all of our abundant energy sources right here in the United States,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.

On the eve of the markup: The NAM urged a “yes” vote on the legislation, applauding bipartisan efforts to advance critical permitting reforms.

• “These reforms will make it easier and more cost-efficient for manufacturers to get shovels in the ground on job-creating projects—and, as a result, this bill will strengthen manufacturing in America,” Phalen emphasized.

What’s next: The SPEED Act now heads to the full House, where it is widely expected to be part of a larger debate over how far and how fast Congress could go on NEPA reform.