Sponsors (20)
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Celeste Maloy · Last progress January 23, 2025
The bill expedites and simplifies permitting for many applicants and increases transparency, but does so by reducing upfront agency review—raising environmental, public‑health, legal, and administrative risks while shifting burdens onto enforcement and affected communities.
Small businesses, homeowners, and state/local governments would get faster, simpler permitting because certain permit types can be converted to 'permit-by-rule' or approved via applicant self‑certification, reducing paperwork and wait times.
Applicants and governments would likely face lower permitting costs because reduced case‑by‑case review and simpler certifications cut agency workload and administrative expense.
Agencies would be required to inventory and disclose permit types, processing steps, and implementation progress, improving transparency and predictability for businesses and the public.
Communities, homeowners, and the general public face heightened environmental and public‑health risks because reduced upfront agency review and permitting‑by‑rule can allow harmful or noncompliant projects to proceed before corrective enforcement.
Communities and permit applicants risk permits being deemed automatically approved after statutory deadlines (e.g., 180 days), meaning activities could proceed without agency review or conditions.
Local governments and communities that rely on thorough review to raise concerns or require mitigation could be disadvantaged by faster, streamlined permitting processes that limit meaningful local input.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires OMB guidance and agency inventories to identify permits suitable for a streamlined "permitting by rule" self-certification process and directs agencies to adopt such rules for eligible permits.
Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance defining a new "permitting by rule" approach and orders federal agencies to inventory every permit they issue and report whether each could be handled by permitting-by-rule. Agencies must invite public comment on their reports, may get one short extension, and for permits identified as suitable must adopt rules to allow applicant self-certification and a streamlined approval process within specified deadlines. The text provided is incomplete where it describes the final approval mechanism for permitting-by-rule rules.