Permitting deal draws lobbying blitz as hurdles mount

Por Ben Geman — Axios

The fragile Senate permitting deal is a major priority across the energy industry, per newly filed lobbying disclosures.

Why it matters: The filings reveal behind-the-scenes efforts by powerful interests and companies representing oil and gas, mining, renewables, environmentalists and plenty in between to shape the legislation.

The big picture: The bill title (Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act), its acronym (BAAJA) and its bill number appear throughout third-quarter lobbying disclosures.

The bill was introduced Sept. 30, the last day of the third quarter. The disclosures, due Oct. 20, offer a window into efforts to influence the legislation during its drafting and negotiations.
The lobbying extends beyond groups that specifically named the bill in their filings. Many others with a stake in the bill — like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers — list permitting legislation in other ways.

Driving the news: Here’s just a small subset of the parties in the arena.

Industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Forest & Paper Association, the National Mining Association, and the Data Center Coalition.
Green groups including Earthjustice, the Nature Conservancy, and Defenders of Wildlife.
Low-carbon power trade groups such as the Solar Energy Industries Association.

State of play: The lobbying goes far beyond trade associations, with many individual companies also involved.

They range from Chevron and BP to power giants like Duke Energy and Southern Company to geothermal startup Fervo.
Industrial and equipment heavyweights like Caterpillar, Schneider Electric and Cummins are there, too.

Zoom in: The disclosures also offer clues about which provisions attracted lobbying attention. For example:

The National Mining Association identified BAAJA provisions that would change Clean Water Act permitting, including state water quality reviews and limits on lawsuits challenging permits.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America listed BAAJA provisions affecting interstate natural gas pipelines among its lobbying topics, alongside other pipeline permitting proposals.

Threat level: The latest filings land amid new friction over the bill.

This week the Interior Department asked a federal judge to allow it to reconsider the Biden-era prior approval of Avangrid’s planned New England Wind project off Massachusetts.
“This is how you blow up a permitting deal,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told Axios and other outlets about the latest in a string of Trump team moves against previously approved projects.

Yes, but: An administration official cast the federal filing as a procedural move in the case brought by other opponents of the project.

“Our filings defend the current government’s litigating position,” the official said.
“We have been very transparent about the need for permitting reform and have also been transparent with Senator Whitehouse’s and Senator [Martin] Heinrich’s teams on all these legal filings,” the official said, citing the two Democratic co-authors.

🆕 The latest: Democratic attorneys general from nine states express “substantial concerns” with the bill in a new letter to lawmakers, Punchbowl News reported this morning.

What we’re watching: The public advocacy and closed-door maneuvering should reach a fever pitch ahead of the first procedural vote on Nov. 9, and in the days and weeks that follow.