Darren Soto Discusses Hang Ups In NEPA Permitting Process For Green Energy Projects

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During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) spoke about the National Environmental Policy Act's permitting process.

Transcript

00:00Gentleman from Florida, Mr. Soto is next for questions.

00:04You're recognized for five minutes.

00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:07The National Environmental Policy Act has been a critical law to help protect my constituents

00:14for decades.

00:15And we do know that from time to time there'll need to be reasonable reforms.

00:20I know Mr. Peters, who you'll hear from in a little bit, also agrees with me on this.

00:25When you look at my district's history, we had the Kissimmee River channelized.

00:29It cost tens of millions of dollars to do that, and it cost us nearly a billion dollars

00:34to fix it.

00:36Because when that happened, it was an environmental catastrophe that took water away from ranchers

00:42that shot nutrient-rich water right into the Everglades and hurt local species.

00:48So we know we do need to look at these major projects, otherwise it could cost us 10 times

00:53if not 100 times more.

00:56My constituents would know about the I-4 ultimate project, which is our main road going through

01:02central Florida, which has been a good partnership between the federal agencies and our Florida

01:08Department of Transportation, as well as interstate clean energy projects, which are struggling

01:13sometimes under the NEPA review.

01:16So it's critical to have environmental analysis, public comment, permitting.

01:19I know those things are being fought right now.

01:22In the case of I-4, we had a silt flow that was going on I-4 during the construction period,

01:27during hurricane season.

01:28And so public input was key to help adjust our local highway.

01:33Then we had the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which created some rules of the road in 2023.

01:38Creating a lead agency, environmental impact statements that had to happen in two years, environmental

01:44assessments within one year, page limits of 150 pages for the environmental impact statement

01:50and 75 pages for environmental assessments.

01:53And then, of course, we've heard about seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County,

01:59that limited assessments on upstream and downstream effects.

02:02So there have been legislative and judicial reforms that have happened.

02:06And I know it seems like in this hearing that there's a lot of talk about nothing happening,

02:11but we know there's been two major reforms, one by the courts, one by this body.

02:15Mr. Morgan, how are these reforms going so far in practice since they've only been about

02:21a year or two years old?

02:25So I mean, even before the seven County case, we saw course corrections from the courts, right?

02:33In 2009, the Ninth Circuit heard a case called Lands Council versus McNair en banc.

02:38And in that case, an en banc court, meaning all of the, it's essentially half because the

02:44Ninth Circuit's so large, but 11 members of the Ninth Circuit unanimously said, our environmental

02:52law has gone a little bit off the rails.

02:55But specifically for the Fiscal Responsibility Act, how have those reforms gone, the legislative

03:01reforms?

03:02We don't have enough time to say for sure how it's going because it's only been two years.

03:07But I think the experience is that the agencies are going to be able to make this transition.

03:16All of these documents historically have been redundant and repetitive.

03:20And so meeting these page limits, I think is not going to be an impossibility for these agencies.

03:25Okay.

03:26And then Mr. Campbell, I know you've been working on some major new projects in both solar, natural

03:34gas and others in Kentucky and been working with Governor Beshear on these projects.

03:39And we're quoted as saying we need both reliable power plus decarbonization over time.

03:46Walk us through some of the challenges you've had through NEPA on these clean energy projects

03:50you're working on that were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act.

03:53We haven't gotten that far to where we have had the challenge with NEPA.

03:58These are all very fresh projects that we just got Public Service Commission approval.

04:02So we're just moving down and signing contracts.

04:06So I'm sorry, I can't share that with you.

04:08Based on your experience of past projects, what are you concerned about as you're trying

04:12to modernize Kentucky's energy?

04:15So well, if you're talking about modernize Kentucky's energy, that's a long story.

04:20And I'll dive into it.

04:22I'm defining it as these projects that you're working on for the purposes of this conversation.

04:26What are some of the things, roadblocks you think you'll face ahead that you're concerned

04:30about?

04:31I think EIS studies that go on too long.

04:33We need to get these projects on as fast as we can is an issue.

04:38We've had transmission issues when we have to have NEPA projects with transmission issues.

04:42Do you think the two-year limit and the 150-page limit will be some improvement as we work through

04:48these?

04:49That will help.

04:50That will help.

04:51I would really like this body to put that in granted by Congress and not have the judicial

04:59system weighing in and not having others weigh in.

05:03I'd like to see you put that in.

05:05Well, as you know, the Fiscal Responsibility Act that put those into power were bipartisan,

05:10was a bipartisan piece of legislation that a lot of us voted for.

05:13So I appreciate your feedback on this.

05:15I'll now yield back.

05:17Thank you so much.

05:19Mind the Fiscal Responsibility Act?

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