The limited language addressing permitting in the agreement to raise the debt ceiling will make the largest statutory changes to environmental law in decades even though it falls far short of Republican ambitions only a few months ago.
The most substantial changes to the 1970s law known as the National Environmental Policy Act focus on how requirements for environmental reviews are implemented. The debt ceiling measure also includes authorization of a study on transmission siting, faster permitting for energy storage projects and the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon, NEPA requires federal agencies to examine the environmental effects of major proposed projects. But many Republicans say the time needed to prepare the environmental analyses and impact statements unduly delays projects, delays that can lengthen if the studies are challenged in court.
