Rep. Dusty Johnson, U.S. Representative for South Dakota | Congresman Dusty Johnson Official U.S. House Headshot
Rep. Dusty Johnson, U.S. Representative for South Dakota | Congresman Dusty Johnson Official U.S. House Headshot
Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson and Scott Peters introduced the bipartisan ePermit Act aimed at digitizing the United States permitting process. This initiative seeks to reduce processing time for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.
In April, President Trump highlighted the need to modernize permitting technology through a memorandum. Following this, in May, he launched a Permitting Technology Action Plan urging federal agencies to maximize technology use in environmental review and permitting processes. The ePermit Act aligns with these recommendations by providing legislative guidance on implementing an electronic permitting system.
"The government, industries, and citizens all agree that it takes too long to build in America," said Johnson. "Completing the permitting process by paper is an archaic waste of time. Digitizing the system will speed up the process, save federal dollars, and cut down delays. Making this commonsense change will unleash investment in American communities and workers."
"Our permitting system is old, complicated, and slow—if we want to build the roads, bridges, broadband, and clean energy of the future, we need to modernize and streamline the permit process," said Peters. "Our bipartisan ePermit Act builds on the efforts of the last two Administrations and brings our permitting process into the 21st century. I look forward to working with Representative Johnson to pass this commonsense bill into law."
The current permitting process has been criticized for failing to ensure timely project approvals. Delays are often attributed not to environmental protection concerns but rather to outdated bureaucratic practices like paper forms.
Congress is urged to address these delays by moving away from lengthy paper documentation toward more accessible digital solutions that improve transparency and reduce conflicts or litigation.
The ePermit Act proposes a framework for agencies to implement a digital permitting system through a unified portal.
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