Where’s the Permitting Bill, Senator Manchin?

Democratic Leader

Chuck Schumer

plans to attach the permitting reform to a government-funding vehicle called a continuing resolution that needs to pass by the end of this month. Mr. Manchin said last week that the text of his deal probably will be “released in the CR,” according to the Hill. It sounds as if the strategy is to prevent anyone from pondering the details too long. The permitting changes might be unveiled at the last minute, as pressure to avoid a government shutdown peaks.

West Virginia’s other Senator, Republican

Shelley Moore Capito,

got tired of waiting last week and released a permitting package backed by 46 other Republicans. To pick a few crucial items, it would codify the Trump Administration’s streamlining of environmental reviews under the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act. President Biden’s regulatory gnomes are hard at work undoing those changes.

The Capito bill would grant states “sole authority” to regulate fracking, including on federal lands in their borders. For other energy development on available federal lands, each state would get the opportunity to displace the feds as the primary regulator and permitter. It’s a good idea, putting federalism to work.

The bill says lawsuits against energy projects would have to be filed within 60 days of a final agency action. A summary of what Mr. Manchin wants, which is public but weeks old, mentions a “statute of limitations for court challenges,” though how long is left unsaid. The Capito bill would lock in the Trump Administration’s definition of “waters of the United States,” and it would stop federal agencies from adopting or using “any estimates for the social cost of greenhouse gases that may raise gasoline prices.”

Sen. Capito would also save the Mountain Valley Pipeline from legal purgatory. That project is about 95% complete and would provide an outlet for West Virginia’s natural gas. Ms. Capito’s legislation would expedite the pipeline’s federal approvals and declare them exempt from judicial review. That’s also a step better than the summary from Mr. Manchin, which says he’d “give the DC Circuit jurisdiction.”

Progressives in Congress are already lining up to block Mr. Manchin’s reform without having seen it. A House opposition letter has 70 signatures, and the list of “no” votes is probably longer. “I haven’t taken a definitive position,” said Democratic Rep.

Peter DeFazio,

“because I don’t know what the hell they’re doing.” Ms. Capito’s bill won’t pass, but it’s a good yardstick to judge Mr. Manchin’s plan.

Mr. Manchin seems to hope that the GOP bill is good news for him, since maybe Ms. Capito can corral 15 or 20 Republican votes for his secret deal. Ms. Capito is skeptical. “Now the onus is on me to provide support for something I had no hand in and still don’t know what it is?” she said. “What if I would go to somebody and say, ‘hey, you know, support this, it’s really good.’ Well, they go ‘what is it?’ And I go, ‘well, I don’t know. Trust me.’ I mean, you just can’t operate like that.”

Mr. Manchin is in a pickle, since he promised permitting reform and then promptly gave up his leverage by voting for Mr. Schumer’s bloated climate subsidy bill. Sooner or later he has to release the results of his negotiation. But the more the clock ticks, the more curious the delay becomes. With so many Democrats opposed, Mr. Manchin will need Republicans to pass his bill. But Republicans should make sure its details are worth the political advertising, and worth lending it their credibility.