House Republicans on March 14 introduced the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R.1), which includes provisions to reform and streamline the permitting process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The bill will be considered on the House floor in late March, and was praised by several industry trade groups, including The Fertilizer Institute (TFI).
Introduced by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the bill proposes to increase domestic energy production by reversing a number of Biden administration policies.
These include measures to limit the ability of states to block projects such as pipelines that run through their waters, and to repeal portions of the Inflation Reduction Act that provided funding to address climate change and pollution.
The bill also proposes to streamline energy infrastructure and exports and boost the production and processing of critical minerals. In addition, the bill contains language to limit the president’s authority to block cross-border project permits, such as Biden’s blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline.
TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch said the bill would speed up a “burdensome, costly, and time-consuming permitting process that needlessly delays critical projects, including phosphate and potash mining.” Rosenbusch said the bill provides a streamlined and simplified permitting process for hard rock mining and other critical projects.
“Mining and permitting reform are vital to the fertilizer industry, as potash and phosphate are two of the three essential crop nutrients critical to crop production,” Rosenbusch said in a March 14 statement. “Delays are measured in years and in the millions of dollars, with those paying the price being consumers who are already struggling with the rising costs of everyday goods.”
As examples, Rosenbusch referenced a permit to mine phosphate in Florida that took nearly 10 years and tens of millions of dollars in expert fees, studies, legal analysis, and legal fees. He also referred to a mining expansion permit for an existing mine that has yet to be approved after more than 12 years and a cost of more than $25 million.
“Farmers need an affordable and abundant supply of fertilizer,” Rosenbusch said. “We strongly support legislation that can make environmental reviews more efficient, reduce duplicative regulatory burdens, provide clear paths to approval, and put timelines in place to ensure our farmers have the fertilizers they need to grow the food on which we all depend.”
The bill was blasted by Congressional Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “H.R.1 will lock America into expensive and volatile dirty sources of energy and will set America back a decade or more in our transition towards clean, affordable energy,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. “The package is a wish list for Big Oil, gutting important environmental safeguards on fossil fuel projects.”