WASHINGTON – Following the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) revised National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Phase 1 Regulations, AXPC CEO Anne Bradbury explained that additional infrastructure is necessary to America’s continued climate leadership and AXPC companies’ ability to deliver affordable and reliable oil and natural gas to the world:
“To meet growing demand for energy, our country needs additional infrastructure. The Administration’s NEPA rewrite adds unnecessary red tape and regulatory hurdles into the permitting process needed for the buildout of energy infrastructure.
“We must build the pipelines and export facilities necessary to meet increasing natural gas demand here in the US, and export US LNG to our allies overseas to displace higher emitting fuels around the world. Lower-carbon natural gas is also needed to support greater deployment of intermittent power supplies, like wind and solar. CEQ’s NEPA rewrite will cause energy infrastructure projects to be further delayed or denied the permits necessary to support the President’s ambitious climate goals.
“Our industry is committed to providing affordable and reliable energy and supporting climate goals here in America and abroad. This Administration’s rewrite of NEPA Phase 1 regulations hurts our ability to continue America’s climate leadership.”
Background:
NEPA is an important law that provides vital environmental safeguards to the public and the NEPA permitting process is critical to reliable energy infrastructure. However, the Biden Administration is adding unnecessary complexity, overly broad discretion, and uncertainty back into the NEPA permitting process by removing clarity of scope and definitions and returning to the 1978 language in many cases. This rewrite is the opposite of streamlining at a time when the President has stated his intent to deliver ambitious climate leadership goals.
Large energy projects (i.e. pipelines, highway, and transportation projects) have been taking an average of seven years to reach a decision on permits, with some projects taking decades. Please see CEQ reviews of NEPA timelines and states for additional information: https://ceq.doe.gov/nepa-practice/eis-timelines.html.
Please click here to view AXPC’s letter to CEQ’s regarding their proposal to rescind important reforms that were part of CEQ’s recent updates to its regulations implementing NEPA.
About the American Exploration and Production Council:
AXPC is a national trade association representing the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States. We lead the world in the cleanest and safest onshore production of oil and gas, while supporting millions of Americans in high-paying jobs and investing a wealth of resources in our communities. Learn more at https://axpc.org/.
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