Democrats try to align permitting reform ambitions

House Democrats are trying to line up their vision for permitting reform legislation as some members of the caucus remain resistant to the effort.

Leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) — including co-chairs Gerry Connolly (D-Va.); Doris Matsui (D-Calif.); and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), head of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change — issued a policy memo Monday for a permitting reform bill that supports clean energy development and takes community input into account.

Also Monday, House Natural Resources Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Democratic leaders to stress his opposition to "harmful permitting provisions" being attached to spending or defense legislation during the lame-duck session.

The debate among Democrats comes as the party prepares to lose control of the House in January. Republicans have expressed a desire for permitting reform legislation but with deeper changes to the National Environmental Policy Act process (E&E Daily, Nov. 16).

Progressives, led by Grijalva, want to make sure nothing passes this year that does not enjoy their support. With the House GOP skeptical of action this year and Armed Services Committee members resistant to using the defense authorization as a vehicle, reform efforts may have to wait until the new Congress.

"Democrats are closing out this Congress with historic wins across the board, including climate action and environmental justice," Grijalva said in a statement. "Let's not pollute that legacy with harmful legislative riders that nobody wants."

Grijalva led a group of nearly 80 lawmakers who opposed Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) permitting package moving as part of the short-term government funding bill passed at the end of September.

President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) support the effort, but they have been unable to cut through conservative and progressive resistance.

In an effort to at least get Democrats on the same page, members of the SEEC highlighted provisions from at least 10 bills that could help improve permitting for transmission projects and protect community input. Each of the bills is led by Democratic sponsors.

"We have determined there are two primary pillars that are central to any clean energy-focused permitting reform effort: electricity grid reform, particularly around transmission, and community engagement," the memo said.

But even Republicans who are willing to engage in permitting reform discussions this year have expressed concern about grid provisions giving the federal government too much power (Energywire, Aug. 5).