Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Scott Peters (CA-50) released the following statement after his bipartisan ePermit Act was passed out of a House Natural Resources Committee markup. The ePermit Act would digitize the United States permitting process, reducing processing time for all federal permits, including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.

“Our permitting system is still burdened by outdated, paper-based processes that slow down the projects Americans are counting on — from transportation and broadband to clean energy and climate-resilient infrastructure,” said Rep. Peters. “The ePermit Act moves us toward a modern, efficient, fully digital permitting system that will cut red tape, and today’s passage brings us one step closer to delivering results faster.”

Rep. Peters continued, “As energy costs continue to rise across the country, it’s important we meet the growing demand for electrification, data centers, and clean-tech manufacturing. I look forward to continuing this momentum and working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to meet the growing demand in California and across our country, and get this over the finish line.”

“It takes too long to build in America,” said Rep. Johnson. “I’m grateful for the work of the Natural Resources Committee to advance my bill that will help America build again. I look forward to moving this bill forward in Congress to modernize our permitting system and unlock development and innovation in our communities.”

Background:

In April, President Trump issued a memorandum emphasizing the importance of modernizing permitting technology. This process began under the Biden Administration in the codification of an e-NEPA study that explored the creation of a digital permitting system. The ePermit Act builds on this momentum and provides legislative clarity and direction on how agencies should implement such an electronic permitting system. The current permitting process has failed to ensure project permitting is on-time and on-task. Oftentimes, the root causes of delays in the environmental review process have little to do with questions about environmental protection and a lot to do with failure to embrace modern technology and move on from legacy bureaucratic approaches, like paper forms. Congress must address the root causes for delays, which include compiling and reviewing lengthy paper documents, a lack of accessibility and transparency – leading to misunderstanding, conflicts, and all too often, protracted litigation – and continued reliance on outdated technologies and processes for interagency review and comment. The ePermit Act, introduced with Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) in June, would address these root causes by establishing a framework for agencies to implement a digital permitting system and a unified portal.

Click here for bill text.

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