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Committee advances bill on permitting predictability after members raise concerns about public hearings
Summary
House Bill 6868, an environmental permitting predictability measure, was sent to the floor after discussion about section 4, which members warned could limit public participation in permitting proceedings.
House Bill 6868, described by supporters as a measure to enhance predictability in environmental permitting, was advanced out of the Environment Committee on March 14 following questions about proposed changes to public-hearing procedures.
Representative D’Amico and Representative Mashinsky raised concerns about Section 4 of the bill, which D’Amico said attracted significant public testimony and could make it harder for citizens to challenge projects that allegedly cause unreasonable pollution. Mashinsky said the section would reduce citizen standing and limit public participation in permitting and signaled he would vote against the bill unless the section was altered.
Chair Representative Parker and bill proponents said they understood the concerns and reported ongoing agency and stakeholder discussions to refine the public-hearing provisions. The chair said he expects continued negotiations with advocates and agencies to reach language that preserves meaningful citizen input while offering developers greater predictability in permit timelines.
The committee held a roll-call vote on the bill and recorded the result on the transcript; the clerk subsequently referred the bill to the floor for further action. Committee leaders said they will continue to work with stakeholders to address the public-participation concerns raised at the hearing.
Evidence: committee transcript, March 14 Environment Committee meeting.
