Analysis by Energy Workforce President Tim Tarpley
Last week, the bipartisan SPEED Act (Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development) bill was introduced by House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME). This hearing was the first step in what will be a long path towards a likely markup and vote on the House floor. The legislation, supported by EWTC , will ensure that environmental reviews focus on direct, significant impacts and create reasonable timelines for agency decision-making, streamline and limit judicial review, and redefine and restrict what is considered a “Major Federal Action” under NEPA. All of these changes will help expedite energy development and energy infrastructure in the United States.
The legislation has begun to pick up bipartisan cosponsors, which will be critical to getting it over the finish line in the Senate and ultimately into law. A key focus for EWTC and our trade association partners will be to continue to grow the list of supporters in the House through individual meetings and outreach. The path forward for permitting reform is relatively expedited, with a lot of work to do in just a few months. Given that this has to be a bipartisan bill, it is safe to assume that as the election season heats up in January after the Christmas break, chances for success will be slim to none. That creates a window from now to Thanksgiving to get the package out of the House and then a few weeks before Christmas to work with the Senate on the package that will come out of that body. To complicate things, Senate Democrats are expected to demand that specific provisions guaranteeing renewable permitting be included, which may cause some Republicans to break ranks. It will be a very delicate dance to keep the coalition of support together as things move forward.
New Section 232 Derivative Process Announced
In an issue that concerns many EWTC members, Commerce has posted another solicitation for additional derivative articles to be potentially included under 232. This process could be impactful, given that 407 products were added in the last round, and it is certainly possible that additional relevant products to the OFS sector will be added in this round. The proposed Federal Register notice is available here. The 232 derivative process is set up in that Commerce opens submissions three times a year (in May, September and January). The process begins with a two-week submission window. After the two weeks are over, Commerce will publish non-confidential versions of the requests and allow public comment for 14 days. Companies must engage at this point, should relevant products be listed here. Commerce will then consider whether the submitted products should be added to the list of derivative articles within 60 days of the posting date. The inclusions window will open on September 15, 2025, and will close on September 29, 2025. The public comment period should then open on September 30, 2025, and close on October 14, 2025. Decisions will be issued no later than November 28, 2025, and tariffs will take effect quickly after this. The last time this happened, it was within three days.
Of note to us is that there is nothing in this post about an exclusion process for existing products on the 232 list. In the past, an exclusion process has been vital to allow companies (or trade associations like EWTC) to make the case that domestic capacity is not sufficient for certain products or that other requirements of the original petition have not been met. This exclusion process is vital to help mitigate the impact of the Section 232 derivative list. EWTC will continue to request the resumption of this exclusion process from Commerce as well as Congress in the coming weeks and months.
Tim Tarpley, Energy Workforce President, analyzes federal policy for the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
