The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved several bills Wednesday that take aim at federal rulemaking and permitting.
H.R. 689, the “Full Responsibility and Expedited Enforcement (FREE) Act,” passed 23-19 along party lines. The bill, from Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), would allow agencies to mass-approve projects through a rule, rather than on a case-by-case basis.
The legislation would also ask agencies to evaluate their permitting systems and submit to Congress plans to expedite their processes.
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Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said the bill “provides desperately needed reform in federal permitting.” Permitting by rule “saves time and reduces administrative burden,” he said.
