US Permitting Delays Stretch Projects for Years, Driving Up Housing and Energy Costs
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 17
US Permitting Delays Stretch Projects for Years, Driving Up Housing and Energy Costs
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 17
Summary
Years-long federal permitting delays are raising rents, home prices, utility bills and goods costs by slowing new housing, energy and manufacturing supply.
NEPA reviews, overlapping agency requirements and prolonged litigation leave projects in regulatory limbo, adding financing and construction costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline, proposed in 2014, took nearly a decade to begin operating after repeated legal and regulatory delays; Mare Island redevelopment in California still faces hold-ups decades after 1996.
Congress is weighing bipartisan proposals including the SPEED Act, FREEDOM Act and PERMIT Act to impose decision deadlines, improve agency coordination and curb duplicative litigation without weakening environmental standards.
Could eliminating the hidden tax of federal permitting delays finally solve America's ongoing housing and energy affordability crisis?
Can new legislative reforms successfully cut years of project delays without sacrificing the vital environmental protections they were built to uphold?