The Republican-led House passed a permit reform bill designed to trim environmental reviews and judicial timelines for the development of federal public lands in a 221–196 vote on Dec. 18.
The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, co-filed in July by House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), now moves to the Senate.
The SPEED Act legislation outlines significant changes to 1969’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by largely codifying a May 2025 Supreme Court ruling that restricted the scope of environmental studies and held that approved projects should not be required to conduct new NEPA-related reviews spurred by lawsuits….