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The Need for Permit Reform in Infrastructure Projects

BOARDMAN ÔÇö Political party notwithstanding, or whether a person lives on the East Coast, on the West Coast or in the Midwest, it’s pretty much undisputed ÔÇ£that we need to build things,ÔÇØ said Bill Koetzle with Building a Better America.

“We need to build airports, we need to build roads, we need to build bridges, we need to build pipelines ÔǪ but right now, all of these projects are really hampered by outdated, inefficient and often an inconclusive permitting process because no matter what you want to build or where you want to build it, this permitting process has really become a significant barrier to making progress,ÔÇØ Koetzle said.

He is the leader of the organization that has undertaken the effort for permit reform, or to speed federal approvals for technical and environmental permits for infrastructure, manufacturing, and energy-related projects.

He also led a roundtable discussion on ways to reform the system last week at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 union hall in Boardman.

Also on the panel were Congressman Bill Johnson, R-Marietta; Marty Loney, Local 396 business agent and president, Western Reserve Building Trades; Guy Coviello, president/CEO, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber; and Jackie Stewart, director of external affairs, Encino Energy.

LONG AND COMPLEX

Often, the permit process is ÔÇ£the longest part of a project and in todayÔÇÖs environment, the most complicated part,ÔÇØ Johnson said.

He said work he and other members of the HouseÔÇÖs energy and commerce committee are doing this session ÔÇ£is right in the bull’s eye of this permitting issue.ÔÇØ

On average, it takes about 4.5 years from application to approval, according to Koetzle.

The work being done by the committee includes cutting red tape in Washington, D.C., to unlock access to raw materials, quickly returning critical supply line and jobs to the U.S. and advancing AmericaÔÇÖs energy dominance, thus reducing reliance on China and other foreign adversaries, Johnson said.

ÔÇ£If we donÔÇÖt break the logjam in this permitting process, weÔÇÖre going to continue to fall behind and weÔÇÖre going to continue to fall victim to nations like China,ÔÇØ which doesnÔÇÖt have a permitting process, but ÔÇ£they just do,ÔÇØ Johnson said.

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve got to figure out how to do while being responsible about it, and we can do that. We can walk and chew gum at the same time, weÔÇÖve just got to get back to believing we can do that,ÔÇØ he said.

Among the reforms sought by Building A Better America are limiting timelines for environmental reviews, streamlining the process for such reviews across agencies, and ensuring a final decision is final.

LOCAL LEVEL

The chamberÔÇÖs Coviello said permitting issues also affect small- to medium-sized companies at the local level.

ÔÇ£A lot of people think about the big shiny factories and how they are going to be built, and how the permitting process might bog them down, but letÔÇÖs not forget there remains small, even family-owned manufacturing operations that are simply trying to expand,ÔÇØ Coviello said. ÔÇ£And that permitting process can be very costly for them, change their whole makeup of their ability to grow the local economy.ÔÇØ

Encino Energy, based in Houston, is one of the largest private oil and gas producers in the U.S.

The company operates in the Utica Shale in Ohio; itÔÇÖs the largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas producer in the state.

For the company to grow, she said bipartisan leadership is needed in Washington, D.C., and there needs to a comprehensive energy policy at the federal and state levels.

ÔÇ£When we think about permitting reform, whether on the natural gas or oil side, we are talking about the ability to literally not only continue to create hundreds of thousands of jobs our industry has created here in Ohio because weÔÇÖve invested over $100 million into the state,ÔÇØ Stewart said.

Loney said permitting reform is a bipartisan issue ÔÇö not Republican and not Democrat ÔÇö and one, in essence, is ÔÇ£about putting people to work.ÔÇØ

The 4.5 years on average to get a permit OK is nearly as long as an apprenticeship, leaving apprentices to wait ÔÇ£their entire five years of their apprenticeship program before they can even get out thereÔÇØ to work.

The length of time also could impact investors in a project, which also could be impacted by inflation or interest rates and other factors, he said. It also keeps people from working in the local economy.

ÔÇ£This is something that is sorely needed,ÔÇØ Loney said. ÔÇ£To be clear, this doesnÔÇÖt mean that permitting reform weakens the standards. It shouldnÔÇÖt weaken the standards, it should make it better.ÔÇØ

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