It took 1,604 days to build the golden gate bridge, today the permitting and litigation would likely add 16 or 20 years to the construction time.
NIMBY attitudes have added so much red tape we can’t build anything in a reasonable time.
That must change. As a society we need to decide, red tape or less GHG. There is no third path. Congress has twice voted down permit reform, adding to the red tape, rather than fix the issues with permitting.
Several projects that were proposed more than 30 years ago are still trapped in the permitting swamp in Washington DC.
Here are my thoughts on how to fix it:
All permits need to be consolidated into one application, that consolidation does not mean skipping permits or reviews, only they are done in parallel. That consolidated application goes to’ a federal ombudsman whose job it is to get those permits issued. Once the ombudsman confirms all required data is submitted a 24-month clock starts. All agencies have 24 months to enter a decision, no decision the permits are approved. Denial of a permit needs a good tangible reason, otherwise the permits are approved.
Bonding on projects increases, performance bonds, decommissioning bonds and environmental bonds. Agencies with these requirements will be expected to police the use of the bond and removal of projects at the end of their life. Faster permitting does not mean the end of responsibility.
Federal land is open to permits unless there are real reasons. It should not matter if it is a transmission line, a mine or a reactor.
Litigation will be done through an environmental court which will consolidate all lawsuits on any single project. The environmental court has 18 months to render judgment on consolidated lawsuits. The appeal is straight to the Supreme Court. People who file lawsuits that are proven baseless, pay all costs for the lawsuit and a delay penalty to the project. It up to the court to decide that penalty. People, lawyers or organizations that constantly file baseless lawsuits pay increasing penalties.
A new agency will be created, to create rights of way corridors for linear projects. This agency will create the corridor and then auction it off the highest bidder. Linear projects include items like transmission lines.
Landowners who do not own the land at least 90 days prior to announcement of the project to the public, cannot block the project.
Using this method means that average linear project startup times drop from 17 years to 4.
A project started today under current rules will not start construction on average before 2040, too late to make a difference by 2035.
Yes, it is a drastic change. Yes, many people will be unhappy. Yes this will mean projects in many people’s “back yard”.
The choice is more coal and natural gas producing electricity for electric vehicles in existing plants or a low GHG future.
NEXT: Fixing the forgotten part of the grid.
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