The House Natural Resources Committee announced a markup this Thursday of SWACCA’s priority permitting reform legislation, H.R. 4776, the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act,” which will ensure a more efficient and timely review process for infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This includes the buildout of new data centers across the nation and associated water and energy infrastructure projects necessary to support them. In the lead-up to the markup, the Committee circulated a “What They Are Saying” document that highlighted SWACCA’s letter of support for the SPEED Act that was submitted last month.
The bill clarifies which federal actions are subject to NEPA review and that NEPA is a purely procedural statute that does not mandate specific outcomes. It also further codifies the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision earlier this year in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, including the Court’s conclusion that a federal agency’s environmental documents address the environmental impacts of the project subject to NEPA review and need not consider the upstream or downstream effects of separate projects. And it reduces the cost of the permitting process by setting firm deadlines and clarifying the standards for judicial review under NEPA. SWACCA believes that the reforms in the SPEED Act will bring much-needed certainty that will reduce project cancellations, spur new investments in infrastructure projects, and ensure the predictability that SWACCA members and other job creators need to make informed business decisions that create employment opportunities for our workers.