Permitting Certainty: The SPEED Act and the Future of Economic Growth 

• House moves the SPEED Act to Senate.

• The SPEED Act implements permitting review shot clocks and limits the time for judicial review of projects.

• Michigan and the U.S. need permitting reform to keep up with new technologies and energy requirements of the 21st century. 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted out the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act on Dec. 18, sending the legislation to the Senate. This critical piece of legislation represents a significant step toward modernizing the nation’s outdated and cumbersome environmental review process.

The Detroit Regional Chamber has long advocated for comprehensive permitting reform to address the delays that frequently hinder the development of vital infrastructure and energy projects. The current National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process has evolved into a complex hurdle that increases costs and creates uncertainty for businesses.

Under existing standards, complex energy projects often require environmental impact statements that typically take more than two years to complete, with many stretching far longer. Furthermore, the current six-year statute of limitations for legal challenges leaves projects vulnerable to perpetual litigation risk, thereby stalling private sector investment. By streamlining these reviews, the SPEED Act will help the Region remain competitive in a global economy that demands agility and reliable energy.

The SPEED Act provides essential “rules of the road” by clarifying that NEPA is a purely procedural statute intended to ensure agencies consider environmental impacts without mandating specific outcomes or conferring substantive rights. It further modernizes the process by allowing the reuse of previous environmental analyses for up to 10 years.

Key provisions of the legislation include:

• Codifying judicial rulings that limit environmental reviews to direct, proximately caused impacts rather than speculative, attenuated, or future effects.

• Establishing strict deadlines for final agency actions, requiring decisions within 30 days of completing environmental assessments or impact statements.

• Limiting the window for judicial challenges to 150 days, down from the current six-year statute of limitations, to provide project sponsors with immediate certainty.

• Narrowing the definition of “major federal action” so that the mere allocation of federal funds, grants, or loans does not automatically trigger an exhaustive and unnecessary NEPA review.

• Prohibiting agencies from delaying documents to await new research that was not available at the time of the initial application or notice of intent.

The bill passed the House with a vote of 221 to 196. The Chamber extends its gratitude to the members of the Michigan delegation who supported this common-sense reform, recognizing that project certainty is essential for regional economic growth.

The focus now shifts to the U.S. Senate. The Chamber urges Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) to support the speedy passage of the SPEED Act, ensuring that the state can efficiently build the necessary infrastructure for the 21st century. Delaying these reforms only serves to hinder economic growth and increase the financial burden on regional businesses and consumers.