(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden signed a permitting reform bill meant to make it easier for the semiconductor sector to develop domestically.
The “Building Chips in America Act of 2023” legislation would cut back some of the environmental review red tape outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 in order to allow construction permit process to go faster.
However, the bill passed the Senate unanimously but it passed the House 257-125. Politico reported that the bill represented a split with some environmentalists and Democrats.
“Getting this bill passed and signed into law took more than a year of bipartisan negotiation and work,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who sponsored the legislation, stated. “The result is smart, effective policy that will maximize our efforts to bring microchip manufacturing back to America by preventing unnecessary delays to getting these factories built. That’s important to our economy, especially in Arizona where it means tens of thousands of great paying jobs, and it’s important to our national security, reducing our reliance on foreign supply chains for this critical technology.”
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2021 led to billions doled out to the private sector toward companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Intel and many smaller outfits in order to create a domestic semiconductor supply chain. Proponents of the bill argue that it benefits the United States by creating less of a reliance on China, as most of the semiconductor industry is based in Taiwan. Opponents have criticized a possible lack of oversight of the legislation and how the money is being spent at those companies.
“I’m proud to have led this effort with Senator Mark Kelly to streamline environmental permitting for semiconductor factories, a crucial step in onshoring jobs and making our country less dependent on China for semiconductors critical to national defense,” Cruz said in a statement after the House vote, The Center Square reported.
