New bill seeks to modernize the federal permitting process

Washington has a permitting problem, and those of us who work around energy projects see it repeatedly. The problem is built around a false choice: that we can either protect our natural resources or that we can promote economic growth and energy development. But we know that both priorities are valuable and, it turns out, are not mutually exclusive. Durable conservation depends on both. We need strong environmental standards, and we also need systems that actually work.

Today’s permitting process is slow, unpredictable and overly complicated. Even projects that meet existing environmental standards can spend years moving through reviews and lawsuits, creating uncertainty for communities, land managers and businesses. That kind of delay does not produce better environmental outcomes. More often than not, it leads to higher costs, stalled investment, and missed opportunities to responsibly manage our natural resources.

Rep. Celeste Maloy has put forward a proposal that aims to address these issues. The Full Responsibility and Expedited Enforcement (FREE) Act is a targeted effort to modernize federal permitting while maintaining environmental safeguards.

Here’s the core of the bill: for certain types of permits, agencies should define the rules up front and allow applicants to move forward if they can meet them. This........

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