U.S. House Passes SPEED Act for Speedier Permitting of Pipelines

On July 25, 2025, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act to streamline federal environmental reviews for energy and infrastructure projects, addressing delays blamed for hindering U.S. construction (see Bipartisan SPEED Act for Permitting Reform Introduced in Congress). The bipartisan bill aims to accelerate permitting by limiting the scope of environmental impact reviews to immediate project effects, excluding downstream impacts like carbon emissions from fossil fuel use, and imposing a 150-day deadline for legal challenges. The bill passed the House last week, although its future in the Senate is far less certain.

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