Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have struck a deal after months of negotiations on legislation that would accelerate federal approvals for energy and infrastructure projects. The legislative agreement reflects a monthslong campaign by Democrats for President Donald Trump to ease up on his crackdown on wind and solar energy.
The legislation, which still faces an uphill battle to pass in both chambers following the midterm elections, would be crucial to facilitating the connection of renewable energy to the grid and the expedited construction of new power plants and other electricity-generating projects that will be used to power artificial intelligence.
“This is a major step towards making it faster and more efficient and easier to build infrastructure projects,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, adding that the bill will not give up any protections for the environment.
For years, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said projects such as pipelines, transmission lines, highways, and even housing have been hamstrung by lengthy environmental reviews and court challenges, making it difficult to deliver on campaign promises such as infrastructure growth or lowering electricity bills.
The deal, announced Wednesday as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, was expected to include provisions long sought by Democrats that would ensure the executive branch cannot delay or block the permitting of energy projects, regardless of the resource. This would also prevent future Democratic administrations from canceling fossil fuel permits.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said during a press conference that these specific provisions were still “unresolved.”
“We have had what I would consider to be a very reasonable opening proposal from the Trump administration,” Whitehouse said. “We need more clarity on that. And when we have more clarity on that, there’ll be back-and-forth to try to resolve those issues. That will happen in parallel with the amendment work, and we look forward to good results on that.”
Democratic negotiators have, for weeks, been hesitant to give their full support for the deal without certainty that permits for wind and solar projects would not be revoked by the Trump administration.
Broadly, the bipartisan deal is meant to streamline the federal permitting process through a number of avenues, including through reforming the National Environmental Policy Act, a 55-year-old law that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of major actions and decisions relevant to their departments, such as issuing permits and licenses for large projects.
Both Democrats and Republicans have said this bedrock environmental law had caused decades of additional red tape and legal delays, specifically through its judicial review requirements. Under the new agreement, the deadline for legally challenging environmental reviews for projects is set to just 150 days.
Shrinking judicial review would be a major win for Republicans, who have long sought to restrict environmental groups’ ability to use the courts to block the development of fossil fuel infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines.
“We want to make it easier in America to build things, to build things in a way that moves them forward, allows the American people to benefit from them,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “When we do that, the American people can prosper as a result of things being built.”
Text of the agreement had yet to be released, but it is also expected to give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission more authority to approve interstate power lines and process transmission infrastructure applications to be processed at the same time as state reviews. This tackles a top priority for Democrats, who have been seeking to connect thousands of gigawatts worth of solar, storage, and wind capacity to the broader electric grid.
The deal, which is not expected to be put to a vote until after the midterm elections, would streamline the National Historic Preservation Act, offer more clarification for reviews required by the Clean Water Act, and give states more power for endangered species consultations.
Reforming these laws will provide developers and consumers with more certainty, Capito said.
Capito said the Senate is planning for a vote on the legislation to be its first after the midterm elections.
Permitting reform has long been considered a white whale in Congress, and many in Washington are still skeptical as to whether lawmakers will be able to pass a meaningful bill after the midterm elections during a lame-duck session.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told reporters following Wednesday’s announcement that the new agreement “feels different” from past efforts that failed to get permitting reform across the finish line, including the bill written by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and then-Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) that fell apart in 2024.
“We have both leaderships very engaged in finding a path forward for this,” Heinrich said. Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) “seem committed to this process,” Heinrich added, a difference from previous efforts.
The Senate deal comes roughly nine months after the House passed its own version of permitting reform with bipartisan support, known as the SPEED Act.
There were hopes at the time that the upper chamber would move quickly following the passage of the House bill. However, negotiations were put on pause for weeks as the Trump administration escalated its crackdown on renewable energy projects by halting several under-construction offshore wind projects.
This sparked fear among Democrats that the administration would not fairly implement a permitting reform bill that would accelerate both fossil fuels and renewable energy projects.
And while Democrats say they’re still worried, Trump signaled last week that he would extend an olive branch and ease the broader crackdown on some projects.
Trump reportedly told aides he would direct the Pentagon to move forward with reviewing onshore wind projects, as directed by a federal judge in August.
While Pentagon officials previously said they “resumed” wind project applications, the War Department, as of last week, had not identified a single project that had moved forward through its review process, which determines if the turbines will affect military operations.
It has yet to be seen if Trump’s easement on wind will extend to offshore projects, which have seen the brunt of the president’s ire.
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The deal was quickly praised by energy industry groups, including the National Ocean Industries Association, which advocates for offshore energy development, including wind, oil, and gas.
“A bipartisan Senate agreement on permitting reform marks a significant breakthrough on one of the most important issues facing American energy development,” NOIA President Erik Milito said. “We are reviewing the details, but what we know so far is encouraging. The focus on permit certainty, clear and enforceable timelines, more predictable judicial review, and greater accountability in the federal permitting process addresses many of the issues that have made it harder to invest in and build major energy projects in the United States.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
