The much talked about Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or more amusingly known as BAAJA, contains a ton of reforms and fixes to our outdated federal permitting process. I have written, and frankly talked, extensively over the past year highlighting the need to fix this backlogged process. Just take a look at last year’s report to truly understand the impact this broken system has on everything related to energy and the cost of living. This piece will be the first of several highlighting the beneficial provisions and changes in the bill that will improve federal permitting, and ideally, energy costs as well.
That said, a key component of the bill’s reform is reforming how NEPA works. NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act, is a law that pre-dates the EPA and nearly all of modern environmental protections and similar regulations. The law was originally intended to ensure federal agencies reviewed the impacts of projects that are classified as a major federal action, like the building of a pipeline for example. Unfortunately, the law expanded outside of its original intent and became a weaponized cudgel that endlessly delays, or kills, all types of energy projects. BAAJA course corrects a lot of it, and that’s putting it mildly.
First, and arguably the biggest issue with the permitting process, is the lack of enforceable deadlines for environmental and other relevant reviews that fall under NEPA once the law is triggered. According to recent studies, it takes roughly four to five years for the average energy project to obtain approval. Fortunately, BAAJA creates specific, enforceable timelines pairing up to the type of review and approval needed. For example, a federal agency must complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in two years. And, if the agency fails to meet that deadline without a statutorily approved reason, the agency staff must spend nearly half of their time working on the review until its completion.
In the past, the open-ended nature of project reviews negatively impacted more projects than we could ever truly know. Take a look at the TransWest Express Transmission project; it waited more than 15 years for federal approval. Or, take a look at the North Plains Connector Project, which took 13 years for federal approval. With BAAJA, these delays are ended.
Congress has a once in a generation opportunity to pass legislation that will significantly improve the lives and economic prospects of all Americans. BAAJA needs to become law in November.
James Morrone is an Energy Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity.
