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Sens. Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) have reached a compromise on revamping permitting rules to speed up energy and minerals projects and bolster domestic energy production (POLITICO Pro, subscription). 

What’s going on: Sens. Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Barrasso, the committee’s ranking member, “released bipartisan legislation that they say addresses Democrats’ goal of expanding interstate transmission lines needed to connect new wind and solar farms to major power demand centers. And it fulfills Republican priorities of increasing access for companies to tap [traditional energy sources] on public lines while curbing lawsuits that … opponents often use to slow or stop energy projects.”

• The bill comes after more than a year of debate between the two senators and contains a measure that would end the Biden administration’s six-month moratorium on liquefied natural gas export permits by instituting a 90-day deadline by which the Energy Department must act on energy company requests following environmental reviews.
• Americans overwhelmingly support U.S. LNG exports, a March NAM poll found.

Why it’s important: The NAM has strongly urged legislators to undertake permitting reform, which would stabilize manufacturing supply chains, control costs for consumers, reduce American reliance on foreign nations and create U.S. jobs.

• The bill would institute a 150-day statute of limitations for lawsuits opposing energy projects and mandate expedited court review of legal challenges.
• It would obligate the federal government to conduct at least one offshore oil and gas sale and one wind sale annually from 2025 through 2029, with minimum acreage requirements.
• The measure would also “double production targets for permitting renewable energy projects on federal lands, to 50 gigawatts.”
• In addition, it seeks to protect grid reliability by requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to assess future federal regulations that significantly affect power plants and offer formal comments to federal agencies about any effects on electric reliability.

What’s next: “Advocates see decent odds for a permitting package to move in the lame-duck session after the election as some of the key negotiators and committee leaders clear out their desks and prepare to leave Congress.”

The NAM’s take: The legislation “includes important provisions that will modernize regulations and end [the Energy Department]’s ban on LNG export permits,” NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram said on Tuesday.

• “Manufacturers look forward to working with [committee Democrats] and [committee Republicans] to fix America’s broken permitting process.”