December 9, 2025
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National Taxpayers Union urges all representatives to vote “YES” on H.R. 3668, the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act authored by Rep. Hudson (R-NC). This legislation addresses critical inefficiencies and bureaucratic delays in the review and permitting of natural gas pipeline projects—reforms that are long overdue, and needed to deliver reliable and affordable energy.
Federal permitting delays have become one of the most significant roadblocks to building all types of infrastructure, and have been particularly hard on energy projects. Investments that should take months to approve stretch into years because of the suffocating amount of red tape that businesses have to navigate through at both the federal and state levels. This uncertainty creates hesitancy for businesses to commit capital when they can’t predict whether a project will receive a timely approval or be subject to years of litigation even before breaking ground.
Today, multiple agencies can conduct overlapping environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), each operating on its own timetable and sometimes issuing conflicting directives or duplicate decisions.
This legislation corrects this by designating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the single lead agency for NEPA reviews associated with applications under sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act. FERC already has deep expertise in pipeline regulation, environmental review, and energy infrastructure oversight. By formally empowering it to coordinate the review process, the bill eliminates duplicative analyses, harmonizes agency timelines, and sets clear expectations for all parties.
Under H.R. 3668, agencies involved in a pipeline review must be identified within 30 days, invited to participate within 45 days, and formally designated within 60 days. This ensures that all relevant agencies are engaged at the outset, preventing late-stage conflicts or surprise demands that have historically slowed projects.
America faces skyrocketing energy demands, and pipelines are the primary tool to move energy from where it’s produced to where it is needed. Retooling regulatory structures, as H.R. 3668 proposes, is a meaningful step to fix our broken permitting system.
Roll call votes on this legislation will be included in NTU’s annual rating of Congress and “YES” votes will be considered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU’s Senior Director of Government Affairs Thomas Aiello at Taiello@ntu.org
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