Debt ceiling deal advances pipeline and tightens environmental rules. But there is more work.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite weeks of negotiations, the White House and House Republicans have been unable to reach a comprehensive agreement to revise environmental regulations and streamline federal permitting as part of their debt ceiling agreementrather than settle for limited changes that might simplify and speed up some project reviews.

legislation, approved Wednesday by the House, includes provisions to expedite infrastructure projects under the landmark National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. However, it does not clear the way to build large-scale electricity transmission lines, instead ordering a two-year study on the subject.

The budget deal passed the Senate on Thursday as lawmakers worked to meet a Monday deadline before the United States risks a devastating default.

One project received special treatment: The legislation essentially guarantees construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $6.6 billion project to transport natural gas across the Appalachian Mountains that has been long overdue. The White House supported the plan over objections from environmentalists and some Democrats as a concession to Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who was a key voter in last year’s election. radical legislation that included large investments in climate programs.

The failure to reach agreement on a more radical review of the permitting rules was not a complete surprise, given the complexity of the issue and the tight deadline for talks due to the threat of a historic breach on the country’s debt.

But the result leaves an important element in President Joe Biden’s legislative to-do list. Administration officials warn that the years-long permitting process for infrastructure projects must be streamlined if the country is to build enough transmission lines and clean energy projects to meet ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

“We’ve done a little bit here, but we’ll have to do more later,” White House budget director Shalanda Young, a key negotiator on the budget deal, told reporters this week. “We all have an interest in making sure these projects move faster.”

Elizabeth Gore, senior vice president for political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said, “The deal makes it a little easier to build clean energy projects, but more needs to be done to speed this transition and protect communities from environmental harm.”

Doing more will not be easy, despite the great interest in the subject on the part of both parties. Republicans see an opportunity to pave the way for further oil and gas development, while environmentalists and some Democrats are wary of relaxing protections for natural habitats or encouraging continued use of fossil fuels.

Even the limited provisions in the budget agreement represent the first significant changes to NEPA in nearly four decades. They would designate a federal agency to develop and schedule environmental reviews for each project, and shorten the time frame for environmental reviews.

Agencies would have a year to complete most reviews, and projects deemed to have complex environmental impacts must be reviewed within two years. The White House described the legislation as improving the permitting process while leaving basic protections intact.

However, some environmentalists were quick to criticize the deal. Jean Su, director of the energy justice program at the Center for Biological Diversity, argued that the legislation would allow more projects to evade strict scrutiny and limit the public’s ability to provide information about pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.

“The Republicans got exactly what they wanted,” he said. “There is a severe rollback of our environmental reviews.”

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, said he was disappointed that more progress was not being made on upgrading transmission lines and upgrading the nation’s power grid to accommodate more renewable energy, such as wind and solar. . He is working on legislation on that subject.

“I don’t think we got what he hoped we’d get,” he said of the final deal. “I feel like we gave up a little more than I would have wanted to give up.”

Hickenlooper said “we’ll go back to the drawing boards” on permitting, adding that “we know we have to if we’re really going to evolve to a clean energy economy.”

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., criticized the decision to study expanding transmission lines instead of expediting their construction.

“We don’t need to waste taxpayer money to tell us what we already know: If we want to fully reap the economic, reliability and environmental benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, we must increase the speed at which we implement electricity transmission.” . Casten said.

Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican who was part of the bargaining team, said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy committed to Biden to continue discussions on pipelines and transmission, “but that will be a holistic discussion. ”.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, another Louisiana Republican, said the budget deal will help limit the ability of outside groups to repeatedly sue to stop or delay needed infrastructure projects.

“Many people are stuck in the permitting process and have been begging Congress for help,” he said. “This bill provides real relief.”

Scalise said it was important to designate a single agency to lead the permit reviews and set a basketball-style “shot clock” to finish the paperwork. “It’s very, very important to say that there will be an end in sight.”

The decision to highlight the Mountain Valley Pipeline Frustrated Democrats and environmentalists who oppose the project or did not want to disrupt the permitting process. Although much of the construction has been completed, it has become embroiled in lawsuits and environmental reviews.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the bill’s inclusion in the budget deal was “slimy.” Kaine filed an amendment Thursday to remove the pipeline from the legislation, but the amendment was defeated by the Senate.

“They shouldn’t be members of Congress putting their thumb on the scale,” he said.

Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is a longtime member of the House Natural Resources panel, also described the pipeline as a “White House-Manchin production.” He said that “makes it a lot harder for Democrats to swallow.”

Manchin said the White House, from “the president on down,” understands the importance of the Mountain Valley pipeline.

“Everyone recognizes that we have to have more energy. We have to have more natural gas in the mix,” Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre downplayed the impact of the legislation on the Mountain Valley pipeline, which opponents say would emit climate pollution equivalent to 23 coal-fired power plants and erode forest lands along the pipeline’s 303-mile stretch.

Biden’s consent to the pipeline follows his approval in March of the huge Willow oil project in Alaskaanother source of frustration for environmental groups that have largely supported the Democratic president.

The pipeline “was going to move forward with or without this bill,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.

He defended the deal saying it “preserves the biggest investment in climate protection we’ve ever seen in history.” House Republicans had initially proposed eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in clean energy tax credits and other spending in the Cut Inflation Act passed last year by House Democrats. Those clippings were not included in the final package.

The pledge is something “Democrats in Congress can be proud of and it will also accelerate those clean energy pledges,” Jean-Pierre said.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Mary Clare Jalonick and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.