Energy Permitting Provisions

This briefing outlines proposed energy permitting provisions aimed at accelerating infrastructure projects through strategic prioritization, strict timelines for environmental reviews, reforms to the Clean Water Act, and limits on litigation delays.

• The proposal suggests the President designate and update a list of at least 25 high-priority energy infrastructure projects to prioritize permitting. This list must be balanced across project types, including renewables, nuclear, hydrogen, critical minerals, fossil fuels, and carbon capture, sequestration, storage, and removal. Selection criteria include decarbonization potential, improving energy reliability, reducing consumer energy costs, and promoting energy trade with allies.
• To streamline environmental reviews, the document proposes maximum timelines for NEPA reviews: two years for major projects and one year for lower-impact projects. It calls for a single inter-agency environmental review document, concurrent agency review processes, and a designated lead agency for coordination. Additionally, it suggests expanding the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) eligibility to include smaller energy projects and critical minerals and mining.
• The provisions include reforms to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, requiring a final action (grant, grant with conditions, deny, or waive) within one year of certification requests. It also aims to reduce litigation delays by setting a statute of limitations for court challenges and requiring federal courts to enforce a remand deadline not exceeding 180 days if a permit is vacated or remanded.
• The document proposes specific regulatory and project-based actions: clarifying FERC jurisdiction over interstate hydrogen facilities, enhancing federal permitting authority for interstate electric transmission facilities determined to be in the national interest by the Secretary of Energy, and requiring agencies to take all necessary actions to permit the construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Energy Permitting Provisions. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/energy-permitting.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Energy Permitting Provisions. n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/energy-permitting.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Energy Permitting Provisions |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/energy-permitting.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendenergy, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Energy Permitting Provisions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/energy-permitting.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }