WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and 37 of their Republican colleagues have introduced the Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act, comprehensive federal regulatory permitting and project review reform legislation.
“Across the country, permitting delays and bureaucratic red tape are seriously hurting our ability to get important infrastructure projects off the ground,” said Blunt. “Supply chain disruptions, along with higher energy and material costs, are adding to those challenges. The START Act is an important step Congress can take right now to help move these projects forward, which in turn will support good-paying jobs and strengthen our economy. ”
“Since our calls for action and offers to see legislative text from the permitting ‘deal’ remain unheeded, Republicans are introducing this legislation today to deliver solutions to the roadblocks, delays, and postponements of key infrastructure projects across the country,” said EPW Ranking Member Capito. “The START Act would provide regulatory certainty to states, expedite permitting and review processes, codify substantive environmental regulatory reforms, and expedite permitting of the critically important Mountain Valley Pipeline. Republicans are unified in working to deliver needed permitting reform, and this legislation is a blueprint for how we can help communities benefit from being able to finally get critical projects across the finish line.”
In additional to Blunt and Capito, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (Ky.), John Thune (S.D.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Rick Scott (Fla.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Jim Risch (Idaho), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Todd Young (Ind.), Ted Cruz (Texas), John Hoeven (N.D.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), John Boozman (Ark.), John Cornyn (Texas), Tim Scott (S.C.), John Kennedy (La.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Josh Hawley (Mo.), and Rob Portman (Ohio).
Full text of the legislation can be found here.