Input Stories

The Trump administration will seek to accelerate the permitting process for numerous energy projects, it announced yesterday (POLITICO’s GREENWIRE). 
 
What’s going on: “The Interior Department announced in a news release Wednesday that it will use emergency procedures to limit the completion of environmental assessments that can take about a year to just 14 days. Projects requiring a full environmental impact statement, which is usually a two-year process, will be reviewed in less than a month.” 

• The move is a direct response to President Trump’s day-one declaration of an “energy emergency.” 
• It comes a little more than two months after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified 600 energy projects for fast-tracking, also in response to President Trump’s January declaration. 

The details: “Projects tied to the production of crude oil, natural gas, critical minerals, uranium, lease condensates, coal, biofuels, geothermal energy, kinetic hydropower and refined petroleum products will be eligible for the quicker permitting process, according to the department.”  

• The Interior Department will also use emergency authorities under current regulations—including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act—to hasten reviews and approvals.  

On NEPA: For example, it will adopt “alternative arrangements to comply with [NEPA] before taking urgently needed actions,” according to a department document. The only energy-related undertakings that are eligible for the NEPA-compliance arrangements are those: 

• “[T]hat seek to identify, lease, site, produce, transport, refine or generate energy resources as defined” in President Trump’s emergency declaration; and 
• “[F]or which the project applicant(s) have submitted plans of operations, applications for permits to drill or other applications.”  

What we’re doing: The NAM is analyzing the legal durability of these announcements by the administration to provide the best possible guidance for the manufacturing industry. 

• We will continue to support commonsense streamlining of the permitting process that provides workable solutions and investment certainty to manufacturers looking to grow in America.