The Biden administration has issued new guidelines aimed at accelerating clean energy projects while considering their environmental and community impacts.
The new rules modify the National Environmental Policy Act to speed up project approvals while ensuring environmental and social justice considerations.
Agencies must complete environmental impact assessments within two years, a reduction from the previous average of 4.5 years.
The guidelines prioritize projects with long-term environmental benefits, allowing some to bypass extensive reviews.
Key quote:
"These reforms will deliver smarter decisions, quicker permitting, and projects that are built better and faster."
— Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality
A natural gas processing plant in Washington County remains offline after a Christmas day fire ripped through a section of the Energy Transfer facility, sending fire from a flare into the sky for more than 10 hours.
