Reconciliation has sucked the air out of the room over the last several months, and with good reason. But while most of the energy policy world has been fighting over tax credits, negotiations over several other infrastructure packages have gotten underway. The most important of these is the surface transportation reauthorization bill, or the “highway bill.”

The highway bill is a must-pass legislative vehicle. With the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s highway authorities set to expire next year, Congressional leadership has already started piecing together a new package, making it the most realistic home for a near-term permitting deal.

With the highway bill as the target vehicle, the goal of this piece is twofold: first, to stake out some initial positions that negotiations might begin from; and second, to build out a simple, workable framework for pursuing permitting reform.

With that in mind, we should start with a few theses:

1. Much of this bill will have to feel as if it originates from Republicans, or it will be dead on arrival.
2. At the same time, the nature of leadership-driven negotiations means that it’s not quite as simple as trying to peel off seven Senate Democrats. In other words, this thing will have to be genuinely bipartisan.
3. For Democrats to vote for a bill that includes significant permitting reforms, they will have to see transmission reforms.
4. For Republicans to vote for a bill that includes transmission reforms, they will have to see significant changes to NEPA and very likely something else.

Read more from Thomas Hochman in Green Tape here.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.