House Natural Resources Committee advances Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act

Key Takeaways

On November 20, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources advanced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776), which would make important changes to streamline federal permitting and strengthen county involvement in decision-making by amending the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; P.L. 91-190). 

Counties support commonsense permitting reforms, and NACo secured provisions in the SPEED Act that would guarantee counties a seat at the table during federal environmental reviews.

The SPEED Act and county input

NEPA requires independent and executive federal agencies to conduct an environmental review as part of major federal actions, such as construction projects or federal land-use planning. After advocacy from NACo, the text of the SPEED Act as reported out of the Natural Resources Committee contains language explicitly identifying “counties, boroughs, parishes, and other political subdivisions of a State” as cooperating local agencies during the NEPA process. 

This vital provision recognizes counties as key intergovernmental partners with significant expertise on projects in their communities, and the SPEED Act, if enacted, would codify that partnership in federal law. As cooperating agencies, counties would have the opportunity to submit comments on the project’s impacts, and the bill includes language requiring the lead federal agency to coordinate on establishing a schedule for the review. 

How else would the bill change the NEPA process?

The changes proposed by the SPEED Act would be the most significant update to NEPA since the law was implemented more than 50 years ago, and the measure would have a major impact on counties and the federal environmental review process. Since the law’s passage in 1970, the NEPA process has become inefficient, lengthy, costly and redundant. The resulting delays and cost increases for critical transportation, energy, land management and broadband projects can challenge county economies, particularly in rural areas with limited resources.

Permitting reform has garnered substantial attention in the 119th Congress as a result of Executive Orders, such as E.O. 14154, Unleashing American Energy, and high-profile legislative proposals. In July, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.-04) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine-02) introduced the SPEED Act as a bipartisan proposal to reform NEPA. 

The bill also makes changes to the scope, timeline and requirements for environmental assessments and impact statements. In its other provisions, the bill:

• Prevents the federal government from rescinding or re-opening environmental reviews for projects that have already received a finalized environmental review
• Sets clear, actionable deadlines for agencies to complete reviews
• Limits the scope and timeline of judicial review and legal challenges to the NEPA process
• Expands the use of categorical exclusions
• Clarifies that the use of federal funds alone does not qualify as a major federal action to trigger a NEPA review
• Reduces duplicative state, federal and Tribal environmental reviews for the same project
• Allows agencies to reuse previously conducted NEPA reviews for projects that are “substantially the same” or modify existing reviews for new projects
• Codifies the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colo., which clarified that NEPA is a purely procedural law and agencies are not required to consider effects that are “separate in time or place”

How would counties be affected?

Changes to the NEPA process broadly affect projects on federal land, projects that use federal funding or projects that involve federal approval since NEPA requires an environmental assessment for all major federal actions. The SPEED Act, if enacted, would implement needed permitting reforms that ensure final decisions are made in a timely but effective manner while maintaining substantive county involvement in planning and review processes. 

Provisions expediting environmental reviews would keep critical projects moving forward, and the inclusion of counties in the review process would ensure that local communities’ voices are heard. Counties play a key role in evaluating and advancing infrastructure projects, and this bill would reduce regulatory burden and provide a clearer, faster path to project realization while ensuring that counties have a seat at the table.

Next steps

The bill now awaits consideration on the House floor. NACo will continue to monitor the SPEED Act and any other legislative developments on permitting reform for potential impacts on counties.