Eleven Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to support House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman’s signature legislation that would ease federal permitting rules and litigation.
Walking off the House floor, the elated Arkansas Republican celebrated that he fulfilled his goal of passing the “SPEED Act” by the end of the year, even after last-minute grumbling from some GOP members threatened to block the bill.
Westerman told reporters that despite last-minute changes meant to appease offshore wind foes, he didn’t lose any of his Democratic co-signers. The vote was 221-196.
“A lot of Democrats were cheering on the fact that permitting reform lives, that it’s going to the Senate to see another day,” he said. “I think we’ve sent them a really good piece of legislation. They’re read into everything we’ve been working on.”
H.R. 4776, co-sponsored by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), would rewrite the National Environmental Policy Act to reduce permit timelines, limit judicial review and make it harder for an administration to revoke permits for projects of all kinds.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who often bucks his party on environmental issues, was the only Republican to vote “no.”
Ahead of the vote, moderates sunk two Republican amendments. One would make it harder for people or groups to sue against projects. Another would have “further” defined what significant effects would trigger an environmental impact statement.
During House debate Thursday morning, Westerman and committee ranking member Jared Huffman offered diametrically opposing views of the bill.
Westerman — flanked by a poster that read, “Cutting red tape and costs this holiday season” — said the bill would restore NEPA “to its original aim of intentional, sustainable economic development.”
In contrast, Huffman declared the bill “took a sledgehammer” to “one of our foundational environmental laws.” His poster declared the bill was a “Christmas gifts for billionaires.”
The bill passed committee easily last month but hit a snag this week when House Freedom Caucus members and offshore wind antagonists demanded a last-minute change that would allow the Trump administration to continue efforts to reopen permitting for a group of offshore wind projects.
Even though it made way for rebels to lift their blockade, that last-minute change prompted at least one group — the American Clean Power Association — to abruptly drop its support.
In an interview Thursday, CEO Jason Grumet argued the change “fundamentally eviscerated the whole point of the legislation.”
Both Westerman and Golden defended the move by saying it was the only way to advance the bill to the Senate, where more changes are guaranteed.
Indeed, Democratic senators like Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island downplayed changes in the House bill.
