API against guidance on permitting process

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an organization representing the natural gas and oil industry, recently urged the Biden administration to change guidance on permitting process.

In a letter sent to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Jennifer Stewart, API director of climate and ESG policy, outlined concerns API has with provisions in CEQ’s Interim Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) and Climate Change under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The provisions include duplicating and disregarding other agencies’ NEPA reviews and GHG regulations. Steward said this could result in significant delays in processing time and compromises the U.S. energy supply and the deployment of lower carbon solutions.

Currently, environmental impact statements take four and a half years to complete on average under NEPA, with 25 percent taking more than six years. A total of $157 billion in energy investment is waiting in the NEPA pipeline, according to recent studies, and a two-year NEPA review time limit could encourage $67 billion in energy investment.

The letter also detailed how CEQ’s guidance could further delay the development of energy projects.

API has approximately 600 members that produce, process, and distribute the majority of energy in the United States and foster new technologies and transparent reporting.