On October 25, 2017, the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued their final reports on how each of the agencies is working to reduce regulatory burdens and promote energy production and economic growth. The agencies’ reports respond to a directive in President Trump’s Executive Order 13783 which, in part, required federal agencies to undertake a review of all federal rules that “potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources, with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources.”
The DOE report makes four pointed recommendations to reduce unnecessary burdens on the development and use of domestic energy resources: (1) streamline natural gas exports; (2) review National Laboratory polices; (3) review National Environmental Policy Act regulations; and (4) review the DOE Appliance Standards Program.
In its report, EPA also targets four key burden-reduction areas: (1) comprehensive New Source Review reform; (2) National Ambient Air Quality Standards reform; (3) robust evaluations of the employment effects of EPA regulations; and (4) a sector-based outreach program.
FERC’s report takes a less rigid approach, and identifies several potential areas the Commission may consider for reform in four jurisdictional areas: (1) hydropower licensing; (2) liquefied natural gas and natural gas pipeline and storage facility siting; (3) centralized electric capacity market policies; and (4) electric generator interconnection policies.
