In a last-gasp flurry of activity, the 119th House of Representatives in December moved forward a bevy of bills aimed at shortening the time frame and the costs required for federal permits for infrastructure projects, many of which are deemed vital to national security.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that these bills are now in the hands of a divided U.S. Senate that, in most cases, requires 60 votes to move a House-passed bill to the Resolute Desk. And, as Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) says, quality legislation passed by the House all too often disappears into the “black hole” that is the U.S. Senate.
On Day 1 of his second term, President Trump signed an Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy, that directed the Council on Environmental Quality to provide guidance on implementing the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) to expedite and simplify the permitting process. The CEQ responded by rescinding its own NEPA regulations – creating a clear path for regulatory agencies to reform their own NEPA procedures.
On May 23, the President issued a series of executive orders to expedite nuclear energy development across the United States – including one that mandates sweeping reforms to the NRC’s structure, personnel, regulations, and basic operations to ensure America’s dominance in the global nuclear energy market. But those orders could go by the wayside unless codified into federal law – which even today is a daunting prospect.
A July McKinsey report found that $240 billion to $280 billion in infrastructure capital expenditures across eight key sectors enter the federal permitting process each year, and that each dollar on average takes about 4 to 5 years to move through permitting (with mining permits taking the longest of all). These findings, McKinsey said, “suggest that there is $1.1 trillion to $1.5 trillion of infrastructure capital expenditure” currently stalled in the permitting labyrinth.
While permitting costs run up to $14 billion in direct expenditures, the lengthy timeline means that the unrealized returns on projects in the pipeline amount to $100 billion to $140 billion a year – roughly half the proposed capital expenditure. Construction costs can increase 24 to 30 percent over project timelines, making many projects untenable.
Factoring in the limits to GDP growth from unrealized household spending by workers and materials suppliers, the slow pace of federal permitting is costing America $1.7 to $2.4 trillion in unrealized cumulative GDP.
The Council also said other costs might include incentivizing suboptimal project designs, including avoiding federal land, to minimize permit exposure and other “litigation proofing” actions. The costs of permitting delays may also discourage private capital investment and frustrate the public.
To address these and other concerns, the House has passed one major bill in September and three more in December – all of which are awaiting initial Senate action. All had a smattering of Democrat support in the House; whether any Senate Democrats will sign on remains to be seen.
The Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable (GRID) Power Act (H.R. 1047) passed the House on September 18. This bill would authorize transmission providers to prioritize dispatchable power projects in the interconnection queue that can address grid reliability. Sadly, it has sat in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources with no action after four months.
On December 9, the House passed the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act (H.R. 3898), which cuts red tape, reduces costly project delays and litigation, and makes permitting under the Clean Water Act more efficient, consistent, and transparent. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
The very next day, the House passed the ePERMIT Act (H.R. 4503), which establishes a framework for federal agencies to implement a digital permitting system, leverage technology, and launch a centralized online portal. It directs the CEQ to work with federal agencies to develop and maintain a unified interagency data system, including a common interactive, cloud- based authorization portal by December 1, 2027.
A week before Christmas, the House passed the bipartisan Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776), which addresses the scope of NEPA and litigation risk. The bill seeks to simplify the NEPA review process which has become increasingly complex and subject to legal wrangling that threatens the feasibility of major projects such as power plants, transmission lines, and wind and solar projects on federal land.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the bill creates exemptions to when a NEPA review is required and requires agencies to consider only environmental impacts directly tied to the project at hand. It also shortens the deadline for suing a federal agency to 150 days after a permitting decision and limits eligibility to file to plaintiffs who demonstrated in public comment periods that they would be directly and negatively impacted by the project.
Major keys to America’s economic future lie within these four bills that codify President Trump’s permitting-related executive orders – and in any future efforts to codify changes to nuclear energy regulation. But even with an end to the filibuster, it could still be difficult to convince 50 Senators (plus Vice President Vance) to push these (and other) bills to the President’s desk.
As Collins (who is running for the Senate in 2026) says, “Until we get a responsible Senate who is wiling to step up debate and close debate and approve things, then we’re going to have to continue doing budget reconciliation” to turn these Trump executive orders into law. Not the best solution, perhaps, but Collins believes it is vital to pass legislation that helps Americans and puts “America First.”
One supposes any move to eliminate the filibuster must be predicated on whether even without the need for 60 votes, Majority Leader John Thune could muster enough votes to pass these permitting reforms – and other legislation critical to reviving America’s manufacturing and energy sectors. The nation – or at least big tech data centers – needs power, and the White House wants to reshore critical industries (including shipbuilding) to shield the U.S. from present and future threats from adversarial nations.
The ball – at least on these four permitting bills – is in Thune’s court. Will he – can he – deliver?
Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow who writes on a wide variety of public policy issues.