Appalachian Voices urges Congress to reject Energy Permitting Reform Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2024
CONTACT
Chelsea Barnes, Appalachian Voices, (614) 205-6424, chelsea@appvoices.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and John Barasso, R-Wyo., released text for a new energy permitting legislation — the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 — which proposed to significantly overhaul the process for reviewing and approving energy projects like methane gas pipelines, transmission lines, power plants and more. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the bill at a meeting on Wednesday, July 31.
The senators’ proposed bill reduces the opportunities for communities that would be directly affected by these projects and other stakeholders to challenge energy projects by reducing the deadline for challenges from six years to 150 days. The bill also mandates offshore oil, gas and wind lease sales; sets short deadlines for the lease processes for coal mining on federal lands; waives community input opportunities for certain transmission projects, reverses the Biden administration’s pause of new liquefied natural gas export approvals and creates a conditional loophole for automatic FERC approval of applications for LNG export facilities and pipelines that cannot be reviewed or challenged. Additionally, the bill includes several reforms to speed up renewable energy permitting on federal lands, including removing opportunities for community input for certain projects.
Statement from Chelsea Barnes, Director of Government Affairs and Strategy:
“The Energy Permitting Reform Act silences community voices by further eroding the National Environmental Policy Act. All people deserve an opportunity to influence the development of energy projects in their communities. In President Biden’s last months in office, Congress should not undo the significant progress on NEPA and other environmental regulations he championed.”
Statement from Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator:
“The Energy Permitting Reform Act is a fossil-fuel industry wishlist. If lawmakers want to reform our energy permitting process, they should start by listening to the people living near these projects, not the fossil fuel industries that extract resources from those communities and leave them with polluted air and water. And they should follow the example of Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act, which is what permitting reform should look like.”
