Washington, D.C. — Today, the House voted to pass the SPEED Act by a 221-196 vote. The legislation would weaken the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a foundational environmental protection law, in numerous ways, including by:

• Drastically limiting NEPA’s scope of review: Removes many actions from NEPA review altogether, potentially allowing factory farms and coal plants to build and expand without any environmental review or public input; 
• Limiting agency accountability: Creates unreasonably short deadlines to challenge inadequate reviews, and limits courts’ ability to stop unlawful projects. 
• Putting polluter profits above science and the environment: Turns NEPA on its head by requiring agencies to prioritize corporate interests over the public interest and limiting their ability to consider the best science.  

In response, Food & Water Watch Legal Director Tarah Heinzen said:

“For decades, NEPA has ensured logical decision-making and community involvement when the federal government considers projects that could harm people and the environment. The SPEED Act would eviscerate NEPA’s protections. Today’s absurd House vote is yet another handout to corporate polluters at the expense of everyday people who have to live with the real-world impacts of toxic pollution from dirty industries like fossil fuels and factory farms. This nonsense must be dead on arrival in the Senate.”