July 31, 2024

Energy and Natural Resources Committee Clears Manchin-Barrasso Permitting Reform Legislation, Pending Nomination

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a business meeting to consider Chairman Joe Manchin (I-WV) and Ranking Member John Barrasso’s (R-WY) Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. The legislation was reported with a strong bipartisan vote of 15-4.

During the business meeting, Chairman Manchin highlighted the broad input from both members and stakeholders appearing before the Committee that went into the legislation and reiterated the importance of accelerating the permitting process for American energy security and emission reductions.

“The need for permitting reform has come up in almost every hearing we’ve had this Congress. No matter what side of the fence you might be on, everyone knows it can’t happen unless you reform our permitting… the time to act is now. Let me be clear, there’s no such thing as a perfect bill. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We’ve tried everything we could to find that balance. Members on both sides expressed interest in doing things in other committees' jurisdiction as well, we understand that and encourage that we can only tackle what’s in our jurisdiction, and this bill is exactly that and it significantly moves the ball forward for all types of energy and mineral projects. It has received broad support ranging from the American Clean Power Association to the National Mining Association,” Chairman Manchin said.

“We’ve listened to everyone and I think that we’ve hit it right in the middle, where good and enduring policy that can get through a bipartisan process is made and it should weather the test of time. Only bipartisanship will do that. It will make meaningful and reasonable changes to ensure that America continues to be the superpower of the world when it comes to both energy production and emissions reductions. It speaks volumes to this Committee's commitment to good sensible policy that we’ve been able to come together on this piece of legislation at a time when our country in politics is so divided,” Chairman Manchin continued.

With a 15-4 roll call vote, Chairman Manchin concluded the business meeting and spoke about the lasting impact the Energy Permitting Reform Act will have on the United States.

“This was truly an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 15 to 4. A lot of times we see things come out on party-line votes, this is not party-line. This is everything that's needed in this country to make sure that we're able to deliver dependable, reliable and affordable energy in the cleanest fashion possible, realizing that we have to have dispatchable power now, but also realize that we're investing and we have to bring forward the transmission to basically move those electrons in the cleanest fashion with renewables. So we're doing everything we can to have a balanced approach,” Chairman Manchin concluded.

The Committee also considered the nomination of Ms. Shannon A. Estenoz to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior, which was reported favorably by a 16-3 roll call vote. The nomination will now move to the Senate floor for full consideration. 

A list of amendments considered can be viewed here.

To watch the business meeting in full, please click here.