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House transportation leaders preview 'Permit Act' to speed federal permitting
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Summary
Chair Sam Graves and subcommittee chair Mike Collins previewed a bill called the Permit Act, saying it would streamline federal permitting for housing, land use, agriculture, infrastructure and energy projects to cut delays and costs; no vote took place in the session.
Chair Sam Graves of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and subcommittee chair Mike Collins on Monday previewed legislation they called the Permit Act and said it would be on the House floor this week to speed up federal permitting for housing, land use, agriculture, infrastructure and energy projects.
The preview came during a short session in which Graves introduced Collins and said the current permitting process "has become way too burdensome and takes way too long to get through the process, which drives the cost, higher and higher and higher." Graves said the measure is a priority for the president and for the Republican conference and handed the floor to Collins to outline objectives.
Collins said his goal as subcommittee chairman is to "make the federal government more efficient and more productive," adding that such changes would help make life more affordable. He described the measure as the Permit Act and said it incorporated proposals from other members. "Lehi 3,898 does that, the permit act," he said in the transcript; an identifying bill number was not clearly specified in the session record.
Collins urged a practical rationale for reform, citing federal infrastructure projects as an example: "Anything from from road construction, which on average takes 10 years from when they decide to do it to when they complete it. And 7 years of that is permits and fighting lawsuits," he said. He described the legislation as "simple common sense" and said he expected bipartisan support as the bill moved to the floor, the Senate and ultimately to the president for signature.
No formal motion or vote on the measure occurred during this session; committee leaders presented the bill and its goals and indicated it was scheduled for floor consideration. The session did not include debate over specific provisions, amendments, or cost estimates, and the hearing record did not provide a clear bill identifier beyond the informal references in the remarks.
Next steps: committee leaders said the bill would reach the House floor imminently, but the transcript contains no vote tally or formal committee action from this meeting.
