Input Stories

Abuse of the National Environmental Policy Act has led to costly, sometimes years-long delays of job-creating projects across the United States. The House must pass the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act this week to help end that abuse, the NAM said.

What’s going on: “The bipartisan SPEED Act, sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), would make crucial reforms to NEPA,” NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain told the House Monday ahead of a possible House vote on the legislation this week.

• NEPA reforms in the SPEED Act include appropriately shortening timelines for environmental reviews, modernizing judicial review processes, clarifying the definition of major federal actions triggering additional permitting requirements, preventing duplicative reviews, expanding the use of categorical exclusions and more.

Why it’s important: The measure “is a critical piece of the NAM’s ‘Manufacturing’s Roadmap to AI and Energy Dominance,’ a blueprint outlining the steps—including vital permitting reforms—that policymakers must take to strengthen America’s energy and artificial intelligence leadership,” Crain continued in communication picked up by Axios.

• The legislation will make it easier and more cost-efficient for manufacturers to start and complete work on projects across the country, strengthening manufacturing in the U.S.