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Senate EPW hearing spotlights bipartisan push to fix permitting delays, protect approved projects
Summary
Witnesses from industry, labor and state energy offices urged Congress to enact bipartisan permitting reforms that shorten review timelines, limit litigation abuses and protect already‑issued permits, warning that political revocations and extended reviews stall trillions in investment and threaten jobs and grid reliability.
Washington — Lawmakers and industry leaders told a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing that Congress must deliver bipartisan, durable changes to federal environmental review and permitting law to end prolonged delays, preserve investor confidence and protect jobs.
"Today we will continue our discussion on the need to modernize our federal, environmental review and permitting process," Chair Capito said in opening remarks, framing the hearing around predictability, consistency and finality in permitting. Ranking Member Whitehouse opened by criticizing recent executive branch actions that he said have undermined trust in agency decision‑making and paused some bipartisan negotiations.
The hearing featured five witnesses across business, labor, energy trade groups and state energy officials. Brendan Bechtel, chair and CEO of Bechtel and chair of the Business Roundtable smart regulation committee, told senators the average federal permitting path takes four to five years and estimated that roughly $1.5 trillion…
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