Lawmakers are working to get an infrastructure bill through the U.S. House of Representatives by Congress' summer break starting in August, a senior staff member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said March 1. The optimism comes despite recent comments from a key U.S. Senate Republican that getting infrastructure legislation through Congress will be difficult this year in light of other priorities.
The White House on Feb. 12 released a 55-page legislative outline on how it hopes to spur $1.5 trillion worth of investment in new roads, bridges, ports, energy projects and other infrastructure by providing $200 billion in federal funding.
With the plan released, "the machinations of legislation … are really starting to happen now," said Chris Vieson, deputy staff director of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure at an event hosted by Bracewell LLP. Although lawmakers still need to hammer out the thorny issue of how to pay for the plan, "we're going to work on getting something through the House by ... the August recess."
The hope for swift House action contrasted a more cautious tone from one Senate leader. According to Politico, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Feb. 27 that "it's gonna be hard" to pass an infrastructure bill by the end of 2018 given other priorities in Congress and the upcoming midterm elections in November.
Passing a comprehensive infrastructure package is a key goal of the White House in 2018. But the task will be tough, with Democrats wanting more direct federal funding for infrastructure and opposed to some of the White House's proposed permitting reforms, including for energy projects.
In order to gain enough votes in the Senate, where the GOP has a narrow majority, the House infrastructure committee is "really looking at making this a strong bipartisan bill," Vieson said.
Alex Herrgott, associate director for infrastructure at the Council on Environmental Quality and one of the main White House officials steering the infrastructure plan, also spoke at the event. He said federal agencies have become "adversaries" of project developers rather than helping them. He lamented the 10-15 years it can take to build new infrastructure and said the economy is losing "millions of dollars every day" on permitting delays. Herrgott specifically mentioned headwinds faced by Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC's Valley Lateral and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC's Constitution projects.
President Donald Trump's infrastructure plan seeks to limit the federal permitting process to two years, including for natural gas pipelines that have encountered stiff resistance in states such as New York.
Don Santa, president and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, said while he appreciates the White House's proposed permitting reforms "there is a need to go further" on changes to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which pertains to state water quality certifications.
Santa said he would like for an infrastructure bill to "provide some recourse for when [Section 401] is being abused." An earlier draft of the White House infrastructure plan allowed for pipeline developers to appeal to federal regulators if a state denied a Section 401 permit or failed to decide whether to grant it within the statutory deadline of one year after application. But the final legislative outline excluded that language.
"The current process of being able to go to a federal appellate court is not particularly satisfying," Santa said.
The electric power sector is also pleased with Trump's call to streamline infrastructure permitting. In addition to faster permitting, the power sector is pushing for provisions in an infrastructure bill to support "smart" energy-efficient cities and for policies to expand usage of electric vehicles and access to charging stations, said Lisa Wood, vice president of consumer solutions for the Edison Electric Institute.
Edison Electric Institute estimates that about one million electric vehicles will be on U.S. roads by the end of 2018 compared with around 780,000 now. That number is projected to climb to 7 million by 2025, Wood said.
