Last week’s collapse of the bridge at the Port of Baltimore, costing lives and threatening commerce and jobs, is drawing fresh attention to federal permitting rules as the community and lawmakers seek to rebuild it quickly.
The federal government can put permits for rebuilding the 47-year-old Francis Scott Key Bridge on a fast track under existing law if the footprint remains the same. A more expansive, modern bridge would require more comprehensive environmental reviews, potentially delaying its completion, say former agency officials and Capitol Hill aides.
Agencies must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act but can use categorical exclusions that apply in emergency situations, streamlining permitting. A categorical exclusion determination means a project wouldn’t have a significant impact on the environment, allowing it to be completed faster. The designations are common in US permitting.
“For Katrina, we rebuilt everything using cat ex’s,” said Alex Herrgott, president and chief executive officer of the Permitting Institute, referring to the 2005 hurricane and subsequent levee failure that devastated Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Baltimore bridge fell after a container ship hit one of its piers. Officials are still in the recovery phase and cleaning up debris. The port’s importance to the US supply chain and economy, as well as to the Baltimore community, means that Maryland and the federal government will soon have to decide on the design of a new bridge.
If the state decides to add more transit lanes, put in place different piers, or elevate the bridge to mitigate the risk of another ship slamming into it, that would likely prompt more robust environmental reviews.
Additionally, replacing the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be a large construction project that presents challenges in a sensitive ecosystem—the Chesapeake Bay area—with multiple environmental protections, said Chad Whiteman, vice president of environment and regulatory affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute.
“It’s going to involve more than one agency, so it’s going to take a lot of coordination to get it done quickly and really focus everybody’s minds on what it is they want to do.”
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) said he’s looking now at how to rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible, eyeing the categorical exclusion designation within NEPA and pushing to “not let unnecessary federal regulations get in the way.”
Congress could legislate specific language for rebuilding the bridge, potentially excluding it from NEPA analysis, Whiteman, a former official at the Office of Management and Budget and Environmental Protection Agency, said.
It could be similar to what lawmakers approved in 2023 to fast-track completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia, he said. “It hasn’t been used that frequently but it’s another option that can be on the table. Frankly, if they want to get it done quickly, that is probably the most expeditious route.”
Broader Overhaul?
Herrgott said the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse won’t have an impact on the broader permitting overhaul that has moved largely out of the public eye in Washington.
“Anyone that tries to tack on additional permitting reforms, using this as an impetus, often times, those are not regarded well,” said Herrgott, who served as executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council during the Trump administration and worked for Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Still, “you never let a good disaster go to waste,” Herrgott said, quoting his former Senate boss,
Whiteman said the disaster is a “potential catalyst for a lot more conversations about permitting” in part because the reconstruction is “really going to test and show how well the federal government can work together or whether they are going to fall into gridlock because of differing decisions and agendas which often plague federal permitting processes.”
Energy and Natural Resources Chairman
The bridge collapse is “not the kind of circumstance we want to see drive” permitting overhaul but it “could be an opportunity to push some of that broader comprehensive reform into the discussions and deliberations” this year, Whiteman said.
Herrgott said appropriators will work to add funding needed for rebuilding the bridge to a supplemental that could include other priorities, such as money to address a shortfall the Federal Emergency Management Agency will experience later this year at the height of hurricane and wildfire season.
The incident is an “emotional issue” with far-ranging economic impacts, that occurred in close proximity to DC, he added. It’s the kind of crisis that “drives supplementals over the finish line.”
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