OK Energy Today/Radio Oklahoma Network
GOP Senators target administration’s “onerous” permitting bills
September 13, 2022
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe joined 37 other GOP Senators this week in introducing an act to do something about what he calls “onerous” permitting that delays energy projects.
Sen. Inhofe (R-Okla.) joined 37 of his Republican colleagues, led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, in introducing the Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act, comprehensive federal regulatory permitting and project review reform legislation.
“There are two things we should be doing here in Congress: defending America and supporting our nation’s infrastructure. After being neglected by Democrats for far too long, I am proud to join my Republican colleagues in introducing legislation that would put in place strong reforms to the onerous regulations that have long delayed critical nationwide energy and infrastructure projects,” Inhofe said.
“Since our calls for action and offers to see legislative text from the permitting ‘deal’ remain unheeded, Republicans are introducing this legislation today to deliver solutions to the roadblocks, delays, and postponements of key infrastructure projects across the country,” Ranking Member Capito said. “The START Act would provide regulatory certainty to states, expedite permitting and review processes, codify substantive environmental regulatory reforms, and expedite permitting of the critically important Mountain Valley Pipeline.”
Sen. Inhofe was joined in cosponsoring Ranking Member Capito’s bill by 37 senators, including, U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
In August 2022, Sen. Inhofe joined Sen. Capito in sponsoring a similar amendment to the reckless tax and spending bill that would have enacted important permitting reforms aimed at reducing burdensome regulations currently delaying key energy and infrastructure projects across the country.
The START Act incorporates Inhofe’s S.2394 – the Federal Land Freedom Act, a bill that gives each state the right to develop all of the energy resources on the federal lands located within that state’s borders and S.2393 – the Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands (FRESH) Act, a bill that states explicitly a state is the only authorized entity to regulate hydraulic fracturing on any land located within its borders.