Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) and House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) released the following statements after H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act was favorably reported by the House Natural Resources Committee.
“Streamlining and modernizing the NEPA process is a crucial step in ensuring that essential infrastructure and energy projects can move forward without being trapped in years of completely avoidable delays,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “The SPEED Act shifts the focus towards meaningful environmental review, rather than excessive paperwork. By reducing costs and creating a clearer, more uniform path for project approval, the SPEED Act will serve as a commonsense reform that puts the needs of the American people first. I am pleased to see it move through committee and hope to see it on the House floor in short order.”
“Today, the Committee took an important bipartisan step toward lowering energy prices for hardworking Americans and building critical projects. The increasing demand for electricity and critical minerals is fueling new investments, and federal permitting laws must keep up. The SPEED Act eliminates bureaucratic delays that hinder projects and restores NEPA to its original purpose. The Committee’s bipartisan support for NEPA reform is a victory for government efficiency, economic growth, national security, transportation infrastructure and lower energy bills for Americans,” said Natural Resources Chairman Westerman.
Background:
H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act is a landmark piece of legislation to modernize and simplify the Federal permitting process. Specifically, it would:
Prohibit federal agencies from "rescinding, withdrawing, amending, altering, or otherwise rendering ineffective” a completed environmental document, unless so ordered by a court.
Limit plaintiffs who are litigating government permits to those who submitted public comments that are relevant to the issue they are litigating.
Codify the narrowing of consideration of effects for review under permits to “direct effects” from Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County (2025), and disallows courts from substituting their own decisions with an agency’s when considering the indirect environmental effects of a proposed action.
Remove requirement for agencies to conduct new studies after the permit application is submitted, and/or if prior reviews/studies have already yielded the relevant information.
Eliminate the need for a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review if a project’s environmental impacts have already been reviewed by a state or tribal entity or considered under another statute.
Allow Federal agencies to adopt categorical exclusions (CEs) that were enacted by Congress for use in other agencies.
