Regulatory Policy
Is Permit Certainty Worth It?
The most problematic provision in the permitting reform bill is permit certainty. It’s not even clear it will accomplish what it sets out to do.
I’ve written a bunch about the issues with the permit certainty provisions of the permitting reform bill. Apparently that provision was a demand of Democratic negotiators, seeking to protect renewable energy from the Trump Administration. If that is the goal, it comes at a steep cost in terms of an overbroad provision with lots of …
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CONTINUE READINGPodesta Is Right
Permitting reform bill asymmetrically makes it easier to grant permits than revoke them. That could have sweeping consequences.
At the end of the last week, these comments from John Podesta, a major Democratic Party policy operative, got some attention. He called the permitting reform bill a “loaded howitzer” in the hands of President Trump, should it be enacted as it is currently written. In particular, Podesta argued that the permitting certainty provisions would …
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CONTINUE READINGProcedure Versus Substance
Drawing a false dichotomy between procedure and substance does not lead to good policy
“If I let you write the substance and you let me write the procedure, I’ll screw you every time.” Former US Rep. Dingell In the prior post I criticized some of the positions of environmental groups in the debates over the Senate permitting reform bill. But advocates of the bill have also made problematic arguments. …
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CONTINUE READINGPermitting Wars
Environmental groups should engage constructively with permitting reform
The permitting reform bill now being considered in the Senate has provoked fairly vicious fights between “abundance” advocates and at least some environmental groups. I think that there are valid critiques of many of the arguments that each side is making, and I think unpacking those critiques can be helpful in trying to find a …
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CONTINUE READINGHey Kids, It’s National Energy Dominance Month!
This October, we officially celebrate the coal and oil industries. Says President Trump.
People sometimes accuse Trump of lacking any consistent policy beliefs, but that’s certainly not true in the areas of energy and environment. He has one clear goal, maximizing fossil fuels. Everything revolves around that. And now we have a whole month officially set aside to celebrate his masterplan.
CONTINUE READINGHow to Deconstruct Federal Regulation
Section 1401 of the Permitting Reform Bill is a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law, not just environmental law
I want to write separately to emphasize how sweeping the permit certainty provisions of Section 1401 of the permitting reform bill likely are. Again, these are provisions that apply if an agency takes an “action” (which is undefined) against a “project” (also undefined) that “would revoke, rescind, withdraw, terminate, suspend, amend, or alter a Federal …
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CONTINUE READINGImproving permitting reform
Suggestions to make the permitting reform bill work better and avoid unintended results
I’ve written a bunch about the Senate’s permitting reform bill. My basic takeaway is that I want this bill to pass, but that there are some serious flaws in the bill, particularly in the permit certainty provisions, that must be addressed. And in general, there are areas where greater clarity about the scope of the …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA Remedies Revisited
Guest contributor Justin Pidot writes that the permitting bill known as BAAJA would end judicial review of most NEPA claims — but it sure is hard to figure that out.
Guest contributor Justin Pidot is co-director of the environmental law program at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Eric Biber’s recent posts have done a terrific job providing an overview of many of the Senate permitting bill’s provisions. I want to revisit the issue of NEPA remedies he discussed here, …
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CONTINUE READINGBlowing in the Wind
The Trump Administration once again proves shortsighted and spiteful.
Just as sponsors are making a push to get a bipartisan permit reform bill through the lame duck session of Congress, the Trump Administration has apparently decided to sabotage the process. Democrats have worried that it does no good to streamline permitting for clean energy projects if the government simply yanks the permits later. That’s exactly what the Administration is planning to do, yet again, in a case where it has repeatedly lost in court.
CONTINUE READINGFDA’s Worrisome Proposal on Toxins in Food Additives
Part of it is a move in the right direction. But one provision raises serious questions.
According to the Guardian news site, a proposed new FDA regulation will “expand a controversial loophole to allow some of the world’s most toxic chemicals to be added directly to food without a safety review.” The proposed regulation does two other, seemingly reasonable, things along with the one that raises real concerns. The worrisome …
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