Permitting reform supporters press forward despite Schumer’s pessimism

Permitting reform advocates on Capitol Hill are forging ahead, even as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York pours cold water on the prospect of advancing legislation to speed up energy projects around the country.

Schumer told reporters last week that it would be “virtually impossible” to get anything done this session. But he said lawmakers are still working toward an agreement.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-Va.) said Tuesday that he and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who have been working to reach a permit agreement, “finally have words.”

“I want to start sharing this language with everyone so that people know where we stand,” he said at a Senate hearing, adding that lawmakers would hopefully “be able to take action here.” I hope we can all bring this together.”

Barrasso also told The Hill on Thursday that he and Manchin are moving in a positive direction.

“We talked about this this morning and made good progress,” Barrasso said Thursday, adding that the two sides “continue to make good progress.”

However, sources close to Barrasso told The Hill on Tuesday that talks are ongoing but no deal has been reached.

Washington’s argument for accepting reform is such that Schumer has asked Manchin to pass legislation aimed at accelerating energy and infrastructure development in exchange for Manchin’s votes on anti-inflation legislation and the Democratic Party’s climate tax and health care bill. After telling Mr. Manchin, things started in earnest in 2022.

At the time, the majority leader voted on Mr. Manchin’s proposal, but by Republicans who felt blindsided by the agreement between Mr. Manchin and Mr. Schumer and who argued that Mr. Manchin’s bill did not go far enough. This effort was largely thwarted.

But since then, lawmakers on both sides have been working toward an agreement. Republicans are pushing for measures such as “judicial reform” aimed at limiting the legal challenges faced by infrastructure projects, many of them environmental.

Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing for more power lines across the country as part of efforts to boost renewable energy.

Despite drawn-out negotiations, lawmakers have not announced any concrete major progress toward resolving policy disputes, including Republican concerns about how the costs of building the transmission line would be allocated.

The issue of allowing the reforms has also caused division within the Democratic Party. Supporters point out that changes to the power grid are critical to getting renewable power from the sideline. At the end of 2023, 95% or more Among the potential new electricity awaiting approval to connect to the grid was carbon-free sources such as solar and wind.

But opponents say the construction should not come at the expense of thorough environmental studies or the possibility of challenging polluting projects in court.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week approved a proposal to strengthen power lines amid continued disagreement among lawmakers. Schumer said the move is in lieu of Congressional action, which is unlikely to move forward this year.

“We’re happy to listen, but we’ve told Joe Manchin it’s virtually impossible to get anything done,” the top Senate Democrat said last week.

“Given the makeup of the House, where the Republican majority is in power, and given that there are very few Republicans currently who are keen on any sort of regional transmission, it would be very difficult to enact legislation on transmission at this time,” he added.

The comments come as Mr. Manchin, an architect of the reform, prepares to retire from the Senate, giving him his last chance to pass a monumental achievement. The lead negotiator, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware), also plans to retire.

The majority leader’s comments were met with backlash from key supporters of the permit.

Barrasso told The Hill that he believes Schumer is “trying to kill the permit.”

Manchin also criticized the New York Democratic Party’s comments on Tuesday.

“If the majority leader, Senator Schumer, believes that the actions that have been taken have solved all the problems, then I have news for you,” he said during an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. That is not being done.”

“It has to be easy to build. [energy] generation, pipeline [and] We need to prepare the power lines for the moment and that is why permission is sorely needed,” he added.

And Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a leading supporter of the power lines, told The Hill on Thursday that he doesn’t believe FERC rules “go far enough.” .

“I think we’re going to run into the flaws in our current system sooner than it seems,” he said. “We need to provide incentives now to improve and interconnect regional power grids.”

“There is bipartisan will to address inefficiencies in the regional grid,” he added.

On the House side, Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) told The Hill that he and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) are still working on a bipartisan compromise and that the House He said he estimated the proposal “could take a month.” Or two places away. ”

He said some of the ongoing issues include how to allocate the cost of transmission lines and whether to bail out the oil and gas sector.

“You can’t sit there and say you’re against all the other forms of energy that are very promising and want more profits from oil and gas,” he said.

Nevertheless, Peters remained optimistic about the prospects for a compromise.

“Reports about the failure of permit reform have been greatly exaggerated,” he said.

But with the Capitol inching closer to its August recess, there is limited time to negotiate this session, and there is limited space in the House and Senate chambers.

Mr. Schumer blamed House Republicans for the difficulty in passing the bill, but Republicans placed the blame on Mr. Schumer.

“If we don’t get a permit bill this year, it’s because Chuck Schumer killed it because he’s not willing to permit all the energy sources that America needs and is being held hostage by the left wing of his party,” Barrasso said. he said.