Capito, Manchin still pushing for federal permitting reform and MVP

Dec. 10—Both West Virginia U.S. Senators continue to be disappointed that attempts for federal permitting reform needed to speed up completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) remain stalled.

"This is an enormous disappointment for me, for our state and for jobs," Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said during a virtual press briefing Thursday. "It makes no sense at all not to move forward to use our energy resources..."

The MVP, a 303-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from north central West Virginia to Chatham, Va., is about 95 percent complete.

But court cases regarding federal permits needed to cross streams and national forest land have tied up completion of the pipeline, which was initially scheduled to open in late 2018, but now the existing permits have been extended to 2026 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Delays have run the estimated cost of the pipeline from $3.5 billion to about $6.5 billion.

"There is a segment of the Democrats who are absolutely anti-pipeline," Capito said. "They are sinking the possibility. We have put in all kinds of different bills with no success."

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin included one of those permitting reform packages in a continuing resolution (CR) earlier this fall as a part of his negotiations with Senate Democratic Leadership for his vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.

However, Manchin withdrew the bill after it became apparent not enough Republicans would support it. But that was after the Inflation Reduction Act passed and Capito said Democratic Leadership in both the House and Senate have failed to find another path for it.

Manchin, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, then tried to advance the Building American Energy Security Act of 2022, which includes permitting reform, by amending the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

"Failing to pass the bipartisan, comprehensive energy permitting reform that our country desperately needs is not an acceptable option," he said when he pushed for the amendment. "As our energy security becomes more threatened every day, Americans are demanding Congress put politics aside and act on commonsense solutions to solve the issues facing us. The Senate must vote to amend the NDAA to ensure the comprehensive, bipartisan permitting reform our country desperately needs is included."

But that effort failed.

"Our energy infrastructure is under attack and America's energy security has never been more threatened," he said after it was rejected. "Failing to pass bipartisan energy permitting reform that both Republicans and Democrats have called for will have long term consequences for our energy independence. The American people will pay the steepest price for Washington once again failing to put common sense policy ahead of toxic tribal politics. This is why the American people hate politics in Washington."

Capito was also disappointed.

"I was prepared to support legislation that would have expedited the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia, which my permitting reform bill also would have done," she said. "The future of American energy and infrastructure requires significant and meaningful reforms to the federal permitting process, and I'll continue to press for legislation that is negotiated, crafted, and passed in an open way."

Capito was critical of Manchin's effort with the continuing resolution, but said she would have supported it anyway because it is needed to finish the MVP.

She also proposed her own permitting reform bill with 46 of her GOP colleagues on board.

Called he Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act, it is comprehensive federal regulatory permitting and project review reform legislation.

"Since our calls for action and offers to see legislative text from the permitting 'deal' remain unheeded (referring to Manchin's initial bill), Republicans are introducing this legislation today to deliver solutions to the roadblocks, delays, and postponements of key infrastructure projects across the country," Capito said in announcing her bill. "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."

No action has yet been taken on that proposed legislation.

Capito's bill was similar to Manchin's proposal and included timely approvals for projects, permitting review schedules for projects that are no longer than two years, and limitations on the page length of environmental documents.

Obtaining federal permits can now take seven to as long as 10 years, she said, and that timeline would be reduced substantially for many energy-related projects.

Her proposal would also provide for speeding up judicial processes regarding federal permitting lawsuits, and that relates directly to the MVP, which has been stalled in Richmond's 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"It has been turned back by, I think, an activist court in the 4th Circuit," she said Thursday, adding that it hinders the country from "being able to meet the challenges of the future."

Both Capito and Manchin want to have an option in permitting reform cases to change court jurisdiction, and the MVP case would be moved to the more "business friendly" D.C. Circuit Court.

Capito's legislation "expedites the approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project within 21 days of enactment. This section paves the way for another American energy revolution by taking concrete steps to buck the policies that are holding American energy producers back to the benefit of hostile regimes with inferior environmental standards."

On Thursday, Capito expressed frustration but said she is "going to keep trying" and hopes her bill can get bipartisan support.

"I am very frustrated by this," she said. "It means a lot of jobs, a lot of energy production in our state."

Capito said the MVP is "safe" and has met environmental standards.

Not getting the MVP up and running "harms our people and energy production," she added.

The 4th Circuit in Richmond invalidated approvals previously granted by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to construct the pipeline on federal land.

That includes Jefferson National Forest, which the MVP must pass through in Monroe and Giles Counties (crossing Peters Mountain), with a total of about 3.5 miles on federal land involved.

The MVP, which was announced in 2014, has faced opposition from many residents from the beginning related primarily to environmental impact, water quality impact, fears of an explosion and the use of eminent domain that forces property owners to allow the crossing of their land.

Protests and court cases have been ongoing for several years.

Another natural gas pipeline, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, that would have run from north central West Virginia east into Virginia, was scrapped by Dominion Energy last year because of "legal uncertainty."

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com