A group of construction and energy sector representatives, including the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, presented the Senate with their experiences of federal environmental review and permitting inefficiencies in a committee hearing last week.
The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment & Public Works invited these testimonies as part of its focus on what it calls modernizing the country’s permitting and review systems without compromising environmental responsibility, according to EPW Committee Chair Sen. Shelley Moore Caputo, R.-W.Va.
“Our legislation needs to look at every stage of these processes to find efficiencies while balancing public health, the environment and the needs of our economy,” Caputo said in her opening remarks. "Let me be clear, modernizing these processes does not mean cutting corners or weakening environmental and public health protections.”
Carl Harris, NAHB chairman and a home builder from Wichita, Kansas, noted in his testimony that almost all land developers have been forced to step away from particular land parcels due to uncertainty around permitting. He added that the requirements of the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act are particularly difficult and uncertain for builders to navigate, and may take years to complete for a given project.
“The CWA is well known among the regulated community because it is unclear which parts of the land parcel are considered a ‘waters of the United States’... and therefore requires a federal wetland permit under the CWA,” Harris said during the Feb. 19 hearing. “To discover this answer, it can take over a year for the landowner to receive a response from the government.”
For the projects that do get built, Harris noted that the cumulative cost of regulations accounts for 24% of the final price of a new single-family home, according to a 2021 NAHB study.
“Regulatory reforms that chip away at this block help reduce the overall cost of construction which will help increase housing supply,” he said.
The NAHB is urging Congress to clarify definitions of “relatively permanent” water flow or “continuous surface connection” for waterways on a property, and to ensure that permits and environmental reviews are processed in a timely manner.
Other testifying parties included the Associated General Contractors of America, the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the Clean Air Task Force. In its testimony, the AGC asked Congress to prevent agencies from adopting inconsistent permitting rules, to streamline environmental review and permitting and to establish a uniform judicial review period.
“Project delays caused by prolonged National Environmental Policy Act reviews, permitting and litigation increase costs and harm the construction workforce by delaying job creation, disrupting hiring and reducing economic activity,” said Leah Pilconis, AGC general counsel, during the hearing. “...To safeguard jobs and keep critical infrastructure moving, AGC urges Congress to support an environmental permitting and approval process that enhances project certainty, minimizes litigation risks and prevents unnecessary delays.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., ranking member of the EPW committee, expressed support for permitting reform in his remarks during the hearing, particularly for clean energy production. However, he also stated that Democrats would not enter any bipartisan agreement for permitting reform until President Donald Trump’s administration, in his words, ended its “lawless disregard for congressional authority and judicial orders.”
“Billions in obligated funds remain frozen, behind a fog bank of contumacy, in blatant disregard of constitutional separation of powers, direct court orders and basic principles of law,” Whitehouse said. “Until the administration shows it will honor its oath to faithfully and impartially execute the laws, we can have zero confidence that any legislative compromise on permitting reform will be executed lawfully.”
The committee will keep the hearing record open until March 21 so that other interested parties can provide their input on environmental and permitting processes via email.
