WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) joined all 49 of his Senate Republican colleagues, led by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in introducing S.J. Res. 55, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the Biden administration’s new regulation, “National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Regulations Revisions,” that will further bog down the already-onerous federal permitting process and add further delay to building vital infrastructure projects and putting hard-working Americans back to work. The recently enacted Biden administration NEPA rules, authored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), undermine important provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act intended to streamline key elements of our broken federal permitting process, which Senator Sullivan played a leading role in writing. Additionally, the Biden administration’s NEPA rules are a substantial roll-back of the Trump administration’s 2020 NEPA regulations, which were the first major modernization of federal environmental reviews since 1978. Senator Sullivan was a leading advocate for the 2020 NEPA revisions, having previously introduced legislation—the Rebuild America Now Act—that mirrored the Trump-era reforms.
The CRA provides Congress an expedited mechanism to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. A joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA is afforded special procedures, bypassing normal Senate rules and allowing for a vote on the Senate floor. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by a simple majority in both houses of Congress and signed by the President—or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto—the rule is invalidated.
Senators Romney and Sullivan’s CRA resolution is cosponsored by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Thune (R-SD), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Barrasso (R-WY), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Lee (R-UT), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ron Johnson (R-WI), James Lankford (R-OK), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), John Boozman (R-AR), Richard Burr (R-NC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Todd Young (R-IN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tim Scott (R-SC), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Susan Collins (R-ME).
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- 07.14.2022
- Tags: Infrastructure, Public Lands, Rural Utah