Sponsors (6)
The bill speeds and makes energy and geothermal permitting more predictable—encouraging investment and faster project starts—while shifting more costs, legal remedies, and decision-making pressure onto federal budgets, courts, developers, and local communities, with attendant risks to environmental review, enforcement, and smaller competitors.
Developers and utilities (and by extension electricity customers and businesses) gain much faster, more predictable permitting timelines and expedited judicial backstops so projects move forward with less regulatory uncertainty.
Lower and more certain permitting and construction timing reduces project financing risk and can lower development and (indirectly) power and energy costs for households and businesses.
Project sponsors can recover losses through a compensation fund and courts can award damages and attorneys’ fees, reducing the financial risk of agency delay and encouraging investment.
Residents of nearby and rural communities face reduced environmental, cultural, and public‑health review because tighter deadlines, expanded categorical exclusions, and faster approvals can truncate or bypass thorough analysis.
Taxpayers and federal agencies bear increased fiscal risk from compensation payments, fund replenishment authority, open‑ended spending authorizations, and potential agency budget strain to meet deadlines or pay awards.
Smaller developers and new market entrants face higher up‑front costs and ongoing fees (enrollment premiums, cost-recovery, inspection/monitoring fees), which favors large, well‑capitalized firms and concentrates industry benefits.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates an expedited permitting regime, fund and cost‑recovery mechanisms, a limited private right of action, and requires annual geothermal lease sales with 180‑day replacement sale rules.
Official title: To amend the Energy Act of 2020, the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the leasing and permitting processes of Federal agencies for certain energy and mineral projects, to clarify Federal authorization requirements for certain projects on non-Federal land, to establish enforceable Federal authorization timelines and expedited judicial remedies, to limit Federal actions halting fully permitted projects, to create a de-risking compensation program, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Josh Harder · Last progress February 3, 2026
Creates a new statutory permitting regime to speed review and reduce regulatory uncertainty for a wide range of energy and mineral projects, establishes a capitalized Fund to support the program, and gives project sponsors a limited private right of action to seek expedited judicial review when agencies miss deadlines or take certain actions. Changes the Geothermal Steam Act to require annual competitive lease sales, add a cost‑recovery and permitting regime for geothermal development, and direct Interior to adopt rules and collect payments to support faster processing and coordination.