A national need for new housing is becoming harder to address due to unnecessarily lengthy permitting processes across the country, asserted the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders in Congressional testimony.
Appearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Carl Harris remarked that land developers are being increasingly forced to “step away from a parcel of land due to the uncertainty in getting the necessary permits to move forward” with a given project.
Regulations associated with the federal Clean Water Act, said Harris, often leave proposed projects up in the air for the simple reason that it is often “unclear which parts of the land parcel” in question, are designated as “waters of the United States.”
In trying to get an answer to that question, Harris continued, “It can take over a year for the landowner to receive a response from the government.”
Securing a Section 404 permit allowing for the addition or removal of materials from bodies of waters, as required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act, “takes upwards of one year, and completing an Endangered Species Act consultation when required can take several more.”
Added Harris: “When considering these implications, it’s clear why we need to make the unwieldy permitting process more straightforward for home builders.”
In separate testimony, Bent Booker, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, remarked that it has become “more evident that projects both big and small are taking longer and longer to get approved.”
“And while this dilemma spans across all areas of infrastructure, nowhere is this more prevalent than within the energy sector,” continued Booker.
Pointing in particular to the agency permitting approval process, combined with judicial litigation challenges, Booker contended that “these unnecessary and costly delays wreak havoc on the construction industry. A project could be permitted, fully funded, and ready to go one day. Then on the next day, out of nowhere, it gets hit with a lawsuit.”
In order to create a better permitting process for home building and development in general, several speakers before the committee urged Congress to make sure that federal agencies process Section 404 permits in a quicker manner, while also establishing clear timelines for agencies to complete project review work.
“Enacting common sense regulatory reforms that will make compliance more efficient and less onerous will help home builders to better safeguard the environment and expand the availability of attainable, affordable housing for all Americans,” said Harris.
February 25, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo of Carl Harris courtesy of National Association of Home Builders
