Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BABIN. Mr. Chair, pipelines and energy infrastructure are the backbone of American energy dominance, yet section 401 of the Clean Water Act, designed to protect our water quality, has too often become a roadblock for critical projects.

Too many States are using this authority to block interstate natural gas pipelines, transmission lines, and other federally approved projects for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with water quality. These projects are routinely certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as being in the national interest, yet they are never built because a single State can withhold or delay a 401 certification.

We have all seen the consequences: delays that stretch on for years, procedural roadblocks that force applicants to withdraw and to resubmit just to restart the process, and legal hurdles so steep that a single denial can derail an entire multistate project or kill it altogether.

Meanwhile, these very same States continue benefiting from the affordable, reliable energy produced in other parts of the country, even as they obstruct the pipelines needed for our Nation's development, economic security, and long-term competitiveness.

This amendment tackles that problem head-on. It establishes expedited judicial review for major energy infrastructure projects, ensuring that the courts reach timely decisions.

It also limits standing to the applicant or those who face direct or irreparable harm, preventing activist groups from weaponizing the process to stall projects that are essential to our power grid, economy, and, most importantly, national security.

Mr. Chair, we cannot meet growing energy demand, power our data centers, or lead the world in AI without the infrastructure to move American energy. It is impossible. This amendment is a targeted, responsible solution, and a crucial step toward restoring America's energy dominance.

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Mr. BABIN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman and understand her opposition, but her reasons for opposing this amendment are the very reasons that we need this amendment.

We have a situation that has been weaponized, that has held up and killed many good projects that would lead to our energy independence and to those very States that she is talking about.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BABIN. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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Mr. BABIN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).

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Mr. BABIN. Mr. Chair, I reiterate exactly what we said in my opening statement and what Mr. Rouzer has stated. Many times, the opposition has nothing to do with clean water whatsoever. It has been weaponized. We need to expedite this, as Mr. Rouzer, my friend, said.

Mr. Chair, this is extremely good for the environment, and I would still urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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