News

Endless litigation has delayed much-needed American infrastructure development for decades—and that has to stop, as the NAM and manufacturers have long argued. The Washington Post (subscription) editorial board makes the case that Congress must step up and fix the permitting process to unlock American investment and growth.

Recent developments: The recent Supreme Court ruling that limited the National Environmental Policy Act—in which the NAM filed an amicus brief—is a step in the right direction.

• In that case, “The court decided that the U.S. Surface Transportation Board could approve an 88-mile train track even if it might move crude oil from Utah to refineries on the Gulf Coast,” the Post noted. “The board didn’t have to assess the potential future impacts if the new track encouraged more oil drilling on one end and more oil refining on the other.”
• In other words, environmental review was limited to the environmental impact of the project itself—as intended by the statute—rather than a more expansive investigation into the potential uses of the finished project.

A long-standing problem: Gaming the permitting process to stop development is nothing new.

• “In the 1970s, a ‘new’ species of freshwater fish called the snail darter was discovered during NEPA research into the building of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee.”
• “For the project to be completed, Congress had to exempt it from the Endangered Species Act. It turned out that the fish was not endangered. It wasn’t a separate species. Opponents of the dam ‘discovered’ it to get the dam stopped.”

More at risk: Numerous infrastructure projects are still in limbo today due to this sort of maneuvering by groups seeking to delay needed investments.

• “A flower called Tiehm’s buckwheat might stand in the way of a Nevada lithium mine green-lit by the Biden administration,” for example.
• But, as the Post noted, “Maybe the idea of protecting every ecosystem at any cost should be reconsidered. The flower, which apparently grows only on 10 acres in the proposed mine’s footprint, is a close relative of other buckwheats. Is it a distinct species? Perhaps it could be grown elsewhere?”
• And another important question: “Perhaps the battle against climate change—which will require lithium to build lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles—should take precedence?”

Calling on Congress: “NEPA review had grown to require every government decision to survive endless judicial challenges, poorly serving the nation and the natural environment in which it sits. Congress should not leave it to courts to fix,” the Post concluded.

The NAM agrees: “Comprehensive permitting reform is essential to building a strong and more competitive manufacturing economy. As [the Post] notes, Congress should reevaluate environmental impact reviews in order to ease construction of critical infrastructure projects,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain on X.