NAPA Urges Senate to Advance Bipartisan Permitting Reforms
NAPA sent a letter to Senate committee leaders endorsing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), a comprehensive permitting reform package introduced last week that would streamline project approvals, reduce delays, and provide greater certainty for infrastructure projects.
The letter, addressed to the leaders of the Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources committees who introduced the bill, praises reforms that would help asphalt pavement contractors deliver needed infrastructure improvements.
“The bill’s reforms would create a more efficient, predictable permitting process that would allow projects to more swiftly proceed and enable asphalt pavement contractors to better serve communities across our nation,” wrote Nile Elam, NAPA Vice President of Government Affairs.
The Cost of Project Delays
The letter highlights how duplicative reviews, lengthy approvals, and uncertainty over issued permits delay infrastructure improvements and consume resources that would otherwise support construction. It cites research finding that lengthy permitting timelines can increase construction project costs by as much as 30 percent and result in more than $140 billion in unrealized project returns each year.
“Every delay has a cost—for companies ready to get to work, employees who do that work, and communities waiting for safer, more modern roads,” the letter reads.
How BAAJA Would Help
NAPA’s letter highlights three areas where the 417-page bill would improve project delivery:
- More efficient environmental reviews. BAAJA would establish clearer deadlines under the National Environmental Policy Act, improve coordination among federal agencies, and focus extensive environmental reviews on projects that require them.
- Streamlined permitting and legal challenges. The bill would streamline Clean Water Act permitting, establish deadlines and requirements for certain legal challenges, and extend some permit terms. It would also accelerate Endangered Species Act reviews and exempt certain activities within existing transportation rights-of-way.
- Greater certainty after approval. BAAJA would restrict federal agencies’ ability to rescind, suspend, or materially alter issued permits, subject to specified exceptions, helping protect investments in project planning, materials, equipment, and workers.
Pairing Permitting Reform with Reliable Funding
The letter also urges Congress to pair permitting reform with a robust surface transportation reauthorization. NAPA strongly endorses the funding certainty in the BUILD America 250 Act, and BAAJA would help that investment go further by making the process for approving and delivering projects more efficient and predictable.
“BAAJA would complement that investment with greater project certainty and fewer costly delays, stretching federal infrastructure dollars further to deliver more roadway improvements and greater value for taxpayers,” Elam wrote. “We strongly urge Congress to pass both bipartisan packages without delay.”
