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Congress and the administration have made many pro-growth, pro-manufacturing moves to strengthen America in the past year, but these policies won’t have their maximum intended effect “if manufacturers can’t get a permit to put shovels in the ground in communities across the country,” the NAM said this week on Capitol Hill.

What’s going on: Permitting reform, a longtime NAM legislative priority , is the key to unlocking the full potential of the numerous manufacturing wins Congress and the administration delivered over the past year, NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill press conference headlined by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and featuring other industry leaders calling for a “Legislative Day of Action” on permitting reform.

• Without comprehensive modernizations to our nation’s permitting laws, projects of all types—from energy, to infrastructure, to new shop floors—will suffer, Crain said.

Why it’s critical right now: “[I]n the United States, it takes 80% longer to permit projects than elsewhere in the world,” Crain told those gathered outside the Capitol Building for the event.

• “These are pipelines. They’re grid-modernization projects. They’re mines and bridges and new factory floors that get stuck in quicksand or never even get off the ground. That is unacceptable. And that is why permitting reform is vital.”

What must be done: Speedier judicial review of these projects, streamlined approvals and serious revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, th e Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act are “every bit as crucial to our industry’s success as tax reform,” Crain went on.

• These efforts align well with the administration’s efforts last year to reduce regulatory burdens—at the Energy and Interior departments, the Environmental Protection Agency and more.
• The NAM has led the charge for such reforms, spending the last weeks of 2025 pushing for permitting reform measures that successfully advanced in the House.

Permitting reform’s year: “If tax was the signature achievement for manufacturers in 2025, 2026 must be the year of permitting reform,” Crain added.

• “Deliver permitting reform for our nation’s manufacturers, and manufacturers will deliver for the American people. That’s more shovels in the ground, more opportunities in our communities and more prosperity for our country.”