The new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule, announced last week, undoes 2020 rules implemented under the Trump administration that the Biden administration said added unnecessary hurdles to the public comment process. It also creates new pathways for categorical exclusions, the most common and speediest form of review under NEPA.
Manchin has been a vocal proponent of an overhaul to the permitting process, backing the Inflation Reduction Act in exchange for a guarantee from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he would allow a vote on a permitting reform bill. Permitting reforms were also part of last summer’s congressional agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling and place caps on some future spending, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Manchin said in a statement the new rule “undermines the bipartisan deal the administration made with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and will increase costs and red tape for critical projects that, despite being needed for national security and prosperity, aren’t favored by the radical left.
“I am proud to work with my colleagues from all corners of our country to introduce a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to reverse this flawed rule.”
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
