The United States produces more oil and natural gas than any nation on earth yet consistently struggles to move those resources to market at the speed that global demand and national security require. Pipeline developers, LNG export terminal operators, and upstream producers routinely face multi-year review timelines, litigation that restarts the clock indefinitely, and state-level processes stretched far beyond their original statutory purpose. The federal permitting system has become a genuine tax on American competitiveness.
According to U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) office, more than $1 trillion in critical infrastructure projects are stuck in the federal permitting queue, representing an estimated $2.4 trillion in unrealized economic activity. More than 650 projects appear on the federal Permitting Dashboard, and construction costs run 24% to 30% higher when projects are delayed. A National Association of Manufacturers report found that nearly 51% of manufacturers say permitting uncertainty discourages investment in new U.S. capacity, and nearly 66% say they would invest more if the process were faster and more predictable.
McCormick just introduced the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act, one of the most comprehensive permitting reform packages to emerge in this Congress. The bill targets four specific areas where the federal process has broken down, drawing broad industry support across the energy sector.
The first is Clean Water Act Section 401, which grants states authority to certify water quality for federally permitted projects. Some states have turned this mechanism into a tool for blocking energy infrastructure through unexplained denials and open-ended delays. The bill sets a firm one-year deadline for state review, requires written justifications for any denial, and confines review to actual water quality matters. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) also introduced the JOAN Act last month, targeting this same problem. The McCormick bill goes considerably further by incorporating LNG export reform, nuclear licensing, and litigation reform into a single package.
The second area is LNG export approvals. Under current law, American LNG exporters must seek case-by-case federal authorization before selling gas to countries without a free trade agreement with the United States. Regulators have used this requirement to impose conditions unrelated to project safety and to allow environmental review to function as a backdoor veto on whether exports serve the national interest. The McCormick bill reforms this framework so decisions rest on legitimate criteria and cannot be stretched into indefinite delay.
Third, his bill modernizes nuclear licensing by extending initial operating licenses from 40 to 60 years and protects pre-approved sites from arbitrary expiration without altering underlying safety standards. Fourth, it also establishes clearer judicial review rules under NEPA with enforceable timelines, addressing a litigation environment that project opponents have exploited to generate procedural delay.
The Texas congressional delegation has been among the most aggressive in driving reform. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act last October, treating LNG export applications to non-free trade agreement countries the same as those for free trade partners and significantly shortening review times. He also introduced the Protect LNG Act to prevent courts from vacating previously authorized LNG permits and mandate expedited judicial decisions in relevant cases. U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) introduced the FENCES Act ensuring foreign emissions and natural events such as wildfires are not counted against air monitoring data used in the permitting process.
Support for reform is bipartisan. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) voted for the SPEED Act and several Texas Democrats have opposed LNG export bans and restrictions.
The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, its members and industry partners, have continued to advocate for substantive permitting reform, calling it a strategic priority for the domestic energy sector. Texas is the largest natural gas producing state in the country and home to the Gulf Coast terminals that have made the United States the world’s leading LNG exporter, but this is a national imperative.
The broader congressional picture reflects genuine momentum. The House passed the SPEED Act last December, a sweeping NEPA overhaul that moved with bipartisan support. It has since introduced the CERTAIN Act as a further step on judicial review. The Trump administration’s EPA also proposed significant revisions to its Section 401 water quality certification rules in January, complementing what Congress is working to codify into statute.
The window for action is real but not unlimited. Midterm elections next year could significantly reshape the legislative landscape and alter the direction of energy policy, making this Congress a critical inflection point for the oil and gas industry. A permitting reform package that fails to advance in Congress could face a considerably more difficult path in the next one. The legislative activity now underway, from McCormick’s comprehensive package to Cruz’s LNG reforms to Pfluger’s work on air quality standards, reflects a serious and sustained effort to modernize a permitting system that has long imposed unnecessary costs on American energy producers and the broader economy.
