House Democrats blasted a top Trump administration official tasked with streamlining reviews of energy projects and said steep cuts at federal agencies and politics are slowing that work.
Emily Domenech, executive director of the Permitting Council, voiced support on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for bipartisan legislation, H.R. 8003, from Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) and Jeff Crank (R-Colo.). The council helps projects worth $200 million or more navigate an array of federal agencies, and the bill would lower that threshold to $50 million.
“We would see projects in every sector if we were to lower the threshold,” Domenech told members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
But Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the full committee’s top Democrat, expressed concern that the Trump administration would continue to withhold that streamlined treatment for solar and wind projects.
