Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin released his permitting reform bill Sept. 21, which includes efforts to ease Clean Water Act and grid approvals.
E&E News reports that "the text largely mirrors an outline released in recent weeks. It includes new timelines for permitting and a list of priority projects to accelerate."
Scientists, health experts and environmental groups have expressed concern with the new legislation, which was negotiated in secret by Democratic senator Joe Manchin and the Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, reported The Guardian. According to The Guardian, this legislation "will fast-track major energy projects by gutting clean water and environmental protections."
There is a two-year limit on environmental reviews for major projects, no matter where they fall on the scale of potentially harming the environment, water supplies and human health.
As stated in the Manchin Bill, under Sec. 1. State Certification under the Clean Water Act:
"This section modifies Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to clarify that the scope of review for certification requests under this section is limited to federal, State, and Tribal water quality requirements affected by the activity being federally licensed or permitted. The section also: clarifies that certifying agencies must take one of four final actions within one year of receiving a certification request: grant, grant with conditions, deny, or waive certification; allows applicants to request pre-filing meetings with certifying agencies to exchange information concerning a forthcoming certification request; requires State and Tribal certifying agencies to publish clear requirements for water quality certification applications, or else default to federal requirements; requires applicants to include in certification requests relevant information on potential water quality impacts; requires certifying agencies to notify applicants of the timeline for review, not to exceed one year, within 35 days of receiving a certification request; prohibits certifying agencies from requesting project applicants withdraw applications to pause or restart the certification clock; and, requires the Administrator of the EPA to notify other States and Tribes of potential water quality impacts from a project being certified by a different State or Tribe."
According to The Guardian, Manchin agreed to back the climate legislation before the midterm elections after negotiating a deal to fast-track the MVP, which is a shale gas pipeline that would stretch 303 miles across the Appalachian mountains from north-western West Virginia to southern Virginia. Construction was previously suspended after the MVP produced more than 350 water quality violations, reported The Guardian.
Now, Manchin’s bill will exempt the MVP from the Endangered Species Act, which according to experts will push two species, the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter, closer toward extinction.
“Building a clean energy future that benefits all Americans cannot start by silencing frontline communities and eroding the laws that protect our access to clean air and water,” said Southern Environmental Law Center Director of Federal Affairs Nat Mund in a statement, reported Virginia Mercury. “It’s absurd to suggest this deal, early versions of which were literally covered with fossil fuel lobbyists’ digital fingerprints, will do anything but exacerbate climate change at the expense of communities that depend on clean air and water that this proposal threatens.”
