Press Releases

Legislation that cuts red tape, reduces costly project delays and litigation, and makes permitting under the Clean Water Act (CWA) more efficient, consistent, and transparent is expected to be considered in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act, is sponsored by Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Mike Collins (R-GA), with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) as original cosponsor.

“The PERMIT Act will unleash America’s power to build by cutting red tape, streamlining permitting processes, and providing a much more reliable and affordable regulatory process, all while continuing to protect water quality,” said T&I Chairman Graves. “This bill does not overhaul or roll back the Clean Water Act – instead it makes targeted reforms to the law informed by real, on-the-ground input and feedback from our builders, farmers, small businesses and other Americans trying to comply with an increasingly frustrating permitting regime. I want to thank Chairman Collins and my other Committee members for their excellent work and contributions to this legislation.”

“The PERMIT Act delivers much-needed reform to the Clean Water Act that will overhaul permitting processes and reduce burdens on permit seekers. As we enter a new era with a renewed focus on domestic energy production and growth, this legislation delivers the tools that our country needs to build faster, smarter, and safer,” said Subcommittee Chairman Collins. “When I was appointed as Chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, I put myself on a mission to make our government more efficient and productive for the American people. With Chairman Graves’ leadership, and all members who introduced proposals, I am proud to say that we are doing just that with the PERMIT Act.”

The targeted reforms in the PERMIT Act will ensure continued protection of the nation’s water quality while helping states, local communities, and others throughout the regulated community more confidently comply with the CWA. The modernized permitting processes provided by H.R. 3898 will reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and costs for infrastructure builders, home builders, water utilities, energy developers, farmers, small businesses, and many others.

The Clean Water Act as we know it has been in place since 1972, but relatively recently some of the Act’s permitting processes have become more confusing, cumbersome, or prohibitively costly, or they have been increasingly abused by frivolous litigation or to stop infrastructure projects for reasons beyond water quality issues. The PERMIT Act incorporates many separate pieces of legislation previously introduced and championed by Chairman Collins and other T&I Committee members to provide commonsense reforms that will address these issues and strengthen permitting processes. In addition to Subcommittee Chairman Collins, T&I Members who contributed proposals that were incorporated into the PERMIT Act include Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), David Rouzer (R-NC), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Burgess Owens (R-UT), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Dave Taylor (R-OH), and Jimmy Patronis (R-FL).  For summaries of many of the proposals that are included in the PERMIT Act, click here.

More information about the PERMIT Act is available here.