Bipartisan ePermit Act would build a unified digital permitting portal, sponsors and industry say

A bipartisan bill aimed at bringing federal permitting into the 21st century drew support at a House hearing, with sponsors and industry witnesses saying a unified digital system could reduce delays caused by fragmented agency data and incompatible file formats. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), the lead sponsor of H.R. 4503, told the committee that “the ePermit Act addresses those problems by establishing a framework for agencies to implement a digital permitting system and a unified portal.” He and other sponsors said the measure would codify elements of the Council on Environmental Quality’s permitting technology action plan and set federal data standards to enable seamless information exchange among agencies, applicants and the public. Witnesses described recurring practical failures the bill is designed to fix. Johnson said agencies often exchange “individual PDFs that can get lost in people's email,” and that antiquated information handling “reduces people's ability to understand what is really going on with permitting.” Josh Levy, president of the Data Center Coalition, told the committee that data centers and other large infrastructure projects are constrained not by the physical build alone but by the availability of reliable permitting and energy infrastructure; he said a unified portal and better data would help projects move faster to meet growing AI and digital demand. The ePermit Act would also instruct agencies to integrate modern tools, including artificial intelligence, into permitting workflows. Representatives and witnesses described uses such as automated completeness checks, standardized metadata for project files, and public dashboards to track timelines and decisions. Municipal officials also said digital modernization would assist local governments. Dominic Longobardi, president of the American Public Works Association and deputy town comptroller for the Town of Hempstead, said early cross‑government engagement and coordinated reviews reduce duplicative work and help local agencies plan construction windows to limit disruption. Supporters said the ePermit Act is a low‑controversy, high‑utility step that complements statute changes like the Speed Act by helping agencies meet statutory deadlines and improving transparency. The bill’s backers acknowledged implementation would require funding, interagency coordination and technical design work. The hearing record shows broad, bipartisan support for digital modernization, even among witnesses who otherwise disputed the Speed Act’s legal changes.