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WASHINGTON WATCH NOIA © Lukasz Z / Adobe Stock

The House of Representatives has already taken action.

In December, it passed the Standardizing Permitting and

Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, a com- prehensive update to the National Environmental Policy

Act designed to bring structure, transparency, and ac- countability to federal permitting. The bill does not weak- en environmental protections. Instead, it establishes clear timelines, improves interagency coordination, and reduces duplicative reviews that delay projects without improving environmental outcomes.

The SPEED Act is part of a broader effort in Congress to restore confdence in the permitting system. Addi- tional bipartisan and bicameral proposals, including the signaling the opposite.

recently introduced Fighting for Reliable Energy and End- The consequences are tangible. Offshore energy sup- ing Doubt for Open Markets (FREEDOM) Act, refect ports hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs across the growing recognition that regulatory delay has become a country, sustains ports and shipyards, and anchors a so- policy outcome in itself. The FREEDOM Act focuses on phisticated domestic supply chain that includes manufac- enforceable permitting deadlines, protections for fully per- turers, vessel operators, technology developers, and service mitted projects, expedited judicial review, and mechanisms providers. These jobs and investments depend on steady to reduce investment risk caused by agency inaction. project pipelines, not stop-and-start policy cycles.

At the same time, recent actions by the executive branch Project certainty also underpins innovation. Offshore demonstrate that permitting modernization is not limited energy continues to advance through improvements in to Capitol Hill. In January, the National Oceanic and At- subsea systems, digital monitoring, autonomous opera- mospheric Administration fnalized revisions to its regula- tions, and emissions-reduction technologies. These inno- tions under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, vations are deployed, tested, and refned through active creating a consolidated application process for seabed min- projects. Delays and uncertainty slow that progress and eral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits. weaken America’s leadership in offshore technology.

This streamlined approach allows qualifed applicants to That is where legislative efforts like the SPEED Act, along- pursue exploration and development through a single, co- side complementary proposals such as the FREEDOM Act, ordinated review, reducing unnecessary delay while main- play an important role. Together, they refect a growing con- taining environmental oversight. sensus that permitting should deliver timely decisions, clear

Together, these efforts underscore a shared understanding: outcomes, and fnality at the end of the process. Early stake- certainty is essential to sustaining long-term investment. holder engagement, transparency, and accountability ben-

This is not a partisan argument. It is an economic and eft regulators, communities, workers, and developers alike.

strategic one. For offshore energy, the stakes are especially high. Amer- ica’s oceans are a strategic asset, capable of supporting do- mestic energy and mineral production, strengthening sup-

Global Competitiveness and the Cost of ply chains, reducing reliance on imports, and supporting

Uncertainty

Offshore energy projects operate on 20- to 30-year time- allies abroad. Offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, ocean lines. Companies commit capital long before the frst vessel mineral exploration, and other emerging ocean technolo- mobilizes or structure is installed. Those decisions depend gies are not competing interests; they are interconnected on predictable access to federal leases, coordinated agency components of a broader offshore energy ecosystem.

reviews, and the assurance that once permits are secured, As the Senate considers its path forward, permitting reform projects can move forward. When permitting becomes cannot become another casualty of political friction. Law- open-ended or reversible, capital migrates elsewhere. makers have a real opportunity to deliver a durable frame-

Competing offshore regions, from Brazil to Guyana work that restores confdence in America’s ability to build. to the North Sea, actively market regulatory stability as a If America wants to shape its offshore energy future, cer- competitive advantage. The United States should not be tainty must come frst.

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