Electronic Permitting Modernization Act

Mr. Speaker, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, we all benefit when the government works the way it is supposed to.

A 21st century nation deserves a 21st century government. The problem is too many Federal agencies still rely on outdated systems not designed for the people they serve. This leaves people looking for help stuck in a tangled web of confusing application processes, clunky government websites, and poor customer support. Long delays and processing times often follow, adding to the frustration our constituents feel.

It is why so many of them turn to us, their Member of Congress, for help. Our casework teams work hard every day to cut through the red tape, but it shouldn't have to come to that.

When we fail to modernize our way of government, we are wasting tax dollars

on inefficiency, but there is something we can do today with this bill to make government applications easier to find and simpler to submit and process.

Congress can pass the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act, which I lead with my good friend across the aisle, Representative Doug LaMalfa.

This commonsense bill encourages the Department of the Interior to offer an online option for as many of its permits as possible. It creates a web page where our constituents can find links to the Department's online permits. Then, it would task the Department of the Interior to report back to Congress periodically on its progress toward electronic permitting.

These simple steps are no-brainers, but they are necessary to keep our government on track and to make the permitting process work for all users.

Creating an online option for more permits will make permitting easier for everyone, not just the applicant. It will reduce the amount of paperwork mailed to the agency, speed up processing times, and finally help bring our government into the 21st century.

At the same time, this bill would help Congress hold the Department of the Interior accountable for its work. With this bill, we could more easily see which bureaus are getting things done here with us in the 21st century and which bureaus are still having workers sitting in windowless rooms, opening envelopes with paper checks and forms in triplicate.

What matters the most about this bill is that it improves the daily lives of the people we serve.

Look, I am a single mom with three kids. When your life is anything like mine, you just want things that you expect to be easy to actually be easy. Let's be clear: It should be easy to find and apply for a permit to comply with the law.

Let's simplify people's lives just a little bit. Let's show them that this part of government using their public lands works efficiently.

Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my co-lead, Representative LaMalfa, as well as Chairman Westerman, Ranking Member Grijalva, and their staff for their work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act.

Madam President, I am very pleased my legislation has just passed.

I particularly want to express my thanks to my colleague and friend, my neighbor, Senator Barrasso, and staff John Tanner and others--Jack and Vincent and Kristin and Tori and

Sam--who have been a big help in this effort.

This legislation, by my Republican colleague from eastern Oregon, Congressman Bentz, is a companion bill to my bill, S.482, which would uphold promises made by the Federal Government to farmers and Tribes in the Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin is the subject of one of the largest river restoration projects in history.

As a result of this work, new habitats are being opened up to recover culturally important fish and wildlife and provide more flexibility for managing water deliveries to farmers in the Klamath Basin. The promise that was made to agricultural communities and agreed to by stakeholders in the Klamath Basin is that they would receive support for the work that must now be completed to avoid conflict, work like putting fish screens on water diversions.

I commend the House for passing this legislation on suspension, and I am really pleased that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are going to allow us to make sure that we don't lose this critical and timely opportunity to finally live up to a promise made to these local communities nearly a decade ago.

I will close with this. I promised that I would have an open-to-all townhall meeting in every county in my State. I just cleared townhall meeting No. 1,100. That means that 1,100 times, for 90 minutes, we just said we are going to throw open the doors of government and listen to folks. I am not giving any speeches or using any teleprompters or whatever, just letting people share their views.

And it was there that I heard about this idea, this idea that is being advanced now on a bipartisan basis. Congressman Bentz, my colleague from eastern Oregon, myself, my home is in southeast Portland, urban and rural, Democrats and Republicans, coming together to do something that makes a lot of sense.

And I want to also, while I am making these remarks, thank my senatorial colleague Senator Merkley, who is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. He has been doing so much good work on the Klamath over the years.

The passage of this legislation tonight is a good win for rural Oregon, long overdue.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my colleague Representative Porter's bill, the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act.

This legislation would codify parts of a Biden executive order that improves the navigability of the Federal Government's permitting process, and the bill would require the Department of the Interior to design and deliver a modernized electronic permitting system.

Permitting reform has been a popular topic this Congress in the Committee on Natural Resources, and on this topic, it is rare that we can achieve a bipartisan win, but we can all be for bringing the Federal permitting system into the 21st century.

That is why this bill would require the Department of the Interior to provide a centralized online repository on its website for public access to its electronic permitting system. It would also make easily available the contact information of the appropriate Department of the Interior employees who can assist State, Tribal, and local governments with permit applications.

These changes will make the lives of our constituents easier by simplifying the process of applying for a permit.

We know that we can make permitting more efficient. We can speed up processing times, and we can improve transparency for everyone involved, all without sacrificing community engagement or environmental protections.

From my district in the Bronx and Queens to across the American West, Americans are all too familiar with the legacy of sacrifice zones. Having online options for DOI permits is a commonsense solution to a part of an important issue that we all care about.

This bill also requires the Department of the Interior to provide periodic updates to the House Committee on Natural Resources, which will allow us to continue to monitor and upgrade our permitting processes.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support Representative Porter's Electronic Permitting Modernization Act, and I urge the House to approve it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5509) to modernize permitting systems at the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5509, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Representative Porter's bipartisan legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to design and deliver electronic permitting systems for permits, forms, and other required paperwork to the extent practical.

Republicans have long supported streamlining and simplifying the permitting process. Additionally, the minority worked with us to address a concern raised with the legislation and how it would interact with recent changes to NEPA enacted under the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

These discussions led to changes to Ms. Porter's legislation to clarify that any permitting system related to NEPA be consistent with the priorities identified in the FRA's NEPA provision.

This legislation aims to streamline the management of operations of the Department of the Interior, improving access to our public lands and Department facilities.

Modernizing the permitting process is an overdue task needed to increase departmental efficiency and improve transparency.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government is long overdue in doing the work needed to bring its permitting processes into the 21st century. The bill before us instructs the Secretary to create an electronic permitting system to accept, process, and record applications for any permitting process under the Department's jurisdiction.

Mr. Speaker, even though the gentlewoman from California opposed my commonsense, straightforward forestry bill earlier today, I do recognize, commend, and support Representative Porter for her work on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the effort of my colleague from the OC in bringing this forward.

Really, it is about simplicity. It is about streamlining a process for people who are just seeking to engage in a process that requires paperwork, permits, and forms. Why would we not make that easier for them?

With all the different interests and needs that we could have, especially in our rural lands--parks, public lands, and the recreational users of those--the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act creates a simple online website to get and complete any necessary permits.

On the other hand, when businesses are interested in raising, logging, mining, or anything else, they will be able to find any approval documents or applications on a single web page, one-stop shopping.

I am happy that we can make it a little bit easier because, for my farming business and me, sometimes it is hard to get to the forms you need and get the stuff done. That is frustrating because all you want to do is get back to what you are doing there to begin with.

This bill actually builds off some of the work we completed last year with the Fiscal Responsibility Act by further directing Federal agencies under the Department of the Interior to provide electronic means to complete any required documentation.

This is a good step to make it simpler to get the work done. I hope it is not an excuse to create more permits and more paperwork, but this is a great way to help out with people who are just seeking to get their work done.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5509, and I appreciate the bipartisan effort on this.