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Energy, mining industries bemoan lengthy permitting processes at Senate hearing

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Energy, mining industries bemoan lengthy permitting processes at Senate hearing

A U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on infrastructure permitting Dec. 12 showcased lengthy review times for transmission, wind power, mining and hydropower projects as well government efforts to pare those timelines.

Roxane Perruso, vice president and general counsel of Anschutz Corp., described the permitting process faced by the TransWest Express LLC transmission system, a 730-mile, high-voltage line crossing 10 U.S. Bureau of Land Management field offices, two national forests as well as Bureau of Reclamation jurisdiction. In 2017, nine years after the project backers applied to the BLM, it received a right of way, she said.

Perruso also recounted an eight-year permitting process for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project in Wyoming. "One of greatest challenges that we encountered was a lack of consistency," Perruso said. "We were faced with ever-changing policy."

She urged greater coordination and communication among agencies, along with more accountability. "This budget and schedule uncertainty and risk discourages the very development of energy and resource infrastructure on federal land that the government is seeking to encourage," she said.

Luke Russell, vice president external affairs of Hecla Mining Co., said plans for a minor expansion of the existing Greens Creek mine in Alaska took more than five years to complete. While minerals such as copper, silver and zinc are essential for energy projects, the U.S. "sadly has become increasingly dependent on foreign sources of minerals," he said. "The length of time it takes to secure permits in the U.S. — which takes an average of seven to 10 years or longer — is a key reason behind this dependency."

Russell also recounted his experience at Coeur Mining Inc.: a 22-year process for permitting plus litigation for a gold mine in Alaska.

The themes sounded by the private sector witnesses were welcomed by the committee's chairman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who also is seeking more workable permitting processes. "Whether its energy production, pipelines, pumped storage, water supply, LNG or something else, our system needs to be improved across the board," she said. It is necessary to "set aside the misguided idea that accelerating or coordinating approvals somehow weakens protection — or simply spending more money will fix all the problems," she added.

Murkowski also raised concerns about the increased "arm's length" approach taken by agencies, which makes it hard for applicants to ask questions and work out issues, as well as delays furthered by agency staff turnover.

The energy panel's ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the talk of permitting reform is a "good discussion, but we need an infrastructure bill that is about funding," and permitting agencies need adequate resources. In doing so, she highlighted a Washington Department of Ecology program to have dam owners pool resource to provide dedicated funds to complete water quality reviews on time. She said she supports license fees to fund resource agencies.

Cantwell criticized House colleagues for not pitching in to get hydro and mineral permitting legislation across the congressional finish line in the last session when a broad energy bill died in conference.

Jim Cason, associate deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, described efforts to improve efficiency and accountability of federal permitting for infrastructure projects, in line with a White House executive order. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed an order setting page and time limits for most environmental impact statements and environmental assessments and called for a review to find ways to accelerate National Environmental Policy Act compliance efforts, Cason said.

Janet Pfleeger, acting executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, described steps to enhance agency collaboration and ensure transparency and dispute resolution arising from the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. She noted the council has released a best management practices report, and the fiscal year 2018 budget requested $10 million in funding to support the use of the FAST-41 tools.

Amid the talk of streamlining permitting, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., raised qualms about large volumes of LNG exports being approved and Chinese investment in U.S. gas businesses. While touting estimates that low-cost gas has driven $160 billion in investment in manufacturing since 2012, she said, "right now our government is taking actions that will drive up gas prices, which is of great concern to the manufacturers that I talk to."

Maya Weber is a reporter for S&P Global Platts, which, like S&P Global Market Intelligence, is owned by S&P Global Inc.