Sponsor
Yassamin Ansari
Representative · D-AZ
Representative · D-AZ
Official title: To modernize permitting systems at the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Yassamin Ansari · Last progress March 25, 2025
The bill centralizes and standardizes electronic permitting to speed reviews, reduce paperwork, and increase transparency for governments and applicants, but it requires federal investment, creates cybersecurity and transition risks, and may shift costs or complexity onto agencies, applicants, and smaller jurisdictions.
State, Tribal, and local governments — and project applicants (including utilities/energy companies and other permit applicants) — gain a single, standardized online permitting system to submit and track applications, plans, payments, and correspondence, reducing paperwork and speeding review workflows.
Consultation requirements ensure systems are developed with input from States, Tribes, and local governments, improving usability, legal compliance, and alignment with on-the-ground needs.
Aligning DOI e-permitting with CEQ's E-NEPA priorities and existing NEPA statutory priorities increases transparency and creates more predictable criteria for environmental reviews conducted through DOI systems.
Taxpayers, applicants, and DOI budgets will face new federal spending and implementation costs; if CEQ priorities are broad or unfunded, those costs or delays may be passed to applicants or absorbed by agency budgets.
Centralizing permitting data creates a single point of failure that could increase vulnerability to cyberattacks or data breaches if security is insufficient, risking sensitive permit information and operational disruption.
Smaller jurisdictions, local governments, and small applicants will face transition and training costs and short-term burdens to adopt new electronic systems.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Department of the Interior to build and centralize online electronic permitting systems and a public repository, and to align those systems with CEQ E-NEPA priorities for NEPA permits.
Requires the Department of the Interior to design, deliver, and centralize electronic permitting systems that accept and record applications, plan submissions, payments, and correspondence, and to publish a centralized public online repository linking all Department permitting systems and permit-assistance contacts. The bill directs consultation with States, Tribes, local governments, and permit applicants, protects legally exempt information from disclosure, prevents creating duplicate systems, and aligns DOI’s systems with NEPA electronic priorities identified by CEQ.