Key Republican releases leave bill as bipartisan talks continue

A key Republican negotiator in the House of Representatives has released a draft bill aimed at speeding up approvals for the country’s energy projects as bipartisan, bicameral talks continue.

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (Ark.) has introduced a bill that aims to speed up environmental reviews and limit legal challenges under the nation’s key environmental law.

The bill comes as Westerman and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) are negotiating what is known as leave reform in the House. On the Senate side, Senators Joe Manchin (I.W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) announced a bipartisan agreement earlier this year.

While Peters and Westerman are negotiating a joint bill, Peters’ spokesperson confirmed that the talks are still ongoing and that the new draft that has been made public came solely from Westerman.

A spokesman for Westerman described the draft as a starting point for bicameral talks.

The proposed legislation would limit the use of new scientific data in environmental reviews, part of an effort to prevent research from delaying approval of a project.

Like Manchin-Barrasso billWesterman’s bill would also limit the time opponents of a project can file a lawsuit.

Westerman’s bill also restricts courts’ ability to block projects based solely on inadequate environmental analysis, allowing them to do so only for actual environmental harms.

It would also limit the definition of environmental impacts that are “reasonably foreseeable” as a result of a project and therefore subject to review.

Critics of this approach have noted that limited definitions can lead to the exclusion of climate impacts occurring downstream; for example, if an investigation concerns fossil fuel production or transportation and the bulk of fuel emissions occur after the fuel is actually burned.

Westerman’s draft to be discussed at a meeting House Natural Resources Committee hearing Next week.

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