NATIONAL HYDROPOWER ASSOCIATION
NHA Statement on House Passage of the SPEED Act

Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO of the National Hydropower Association, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776), legislation that modernizes and streamlines the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

"The SPEED Act will go a long way to streamline permitting, reduce costs, and accelerate deployment of clean hydropower projects. I thank Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) for leading this bipartisan legislation successfully through the House. Currently, it takes more time to relicense an existing hydropower facility than to license a new nuclear power plant. Passage of the SPEED Act will make it easier for the hydropower industry to continue generating clean, baseload energy for generations to come. I urge the Senate to pass the bill quickly."

This legislation delivers long-overdue clarity and predictability for infrastructure projects, including hydropower, by: 

• Streamlining National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Reviews: Limits reviews to direct project impacts, avoiding unnecessary upstream/downstream analysis.
• Re-using Prior Analyses: Allows agencies to rely on previous environmental reviews and categorical exclusions for routine activities.
• Establishing Firm Timelines: Sets coordinated deadlines for environmental reviews and narrows litigation windows to reduce delays.
• Judicial Review Reform: Codifies limits on injunctions and vacating permits, reducing project uncertainty.
• State-Federal Coordination: Recognizes equivalent state reviews to eliminate duplicative processes.
• Clarifying NEPA Triggers: Defines when NEPA applies and what constitutes a "reasonably foreseeable effect."