- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox criticized federal permitting delays at the Western Governors’ conference.
- Permitting Council’s Emily Domenech highlighted progress, completing 16 permits out of 57.
- Cox argued delays inflate costs and hinder projects; he called for reform to boost energy production.
SALT LAKE CITY — Federal permitting for large infrastructure projects is slow and expensive. The process costs American manufacturers $7.9 billion each year, and leaders in the Mountain West say they are ready for it to change.
During the Western Governors’ Association’s conference on energy abundance in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox moderated a conversation with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and the federal Permitting Council’s Executive Director Emily Domenech.
Federal permitting processes have “defaulted to the largest, longest level of review, whether it’s appropriate under the law or not,” Domenech explained…