Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, speaks to CNBC on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, on April 26, 2024.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill aimed at making it easier to obtain federal permits to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence projects.
The bill, known as the SPEED Act, would require OpenAI, micron and microsoft
The bipartisan bill passed the House by a vote of 221-196, overcoming a conservative revolt that nearly sank it in a procedural vote earlier this week.
The bill is now before the Senate and is likely to be part of a larger debate over allowing the reforms.
Supporters of the SPEED Act say it’s important to help the United States outpace China and other global competitors in the race for AI supremacy.
“The power needed for civilian and military AI computing is a national emergency,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
The SPEED Act amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which requires federal review of projects that impact the environment.
This would tighten the timeline for NEPA reviews and shorten the statute of limitations for NEPA lawsuits from the current six years to 150 days.
Reform approvals have garnered bipartisan support in recent days, as Democratic-backed clean energy projects have been mired in approval delays.
As AI emerges as a major field and power-hungry data centers increase the strain on the power grid, pressure is mounting on Congress to act.
The bill’s Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, said the SPEED Act would allow the United States to “build what we need, when we need it, and as quickly as we need it.”
But most Democrats opposed the SPEED Act and called for any permitting legislation to overturn President Donald Trump’s efforts to shut down renewable energy sources such as offshore wind.
Democratic resistance was further exacerbated when Republican leaders inserted language exempting President Trump’s efforts to block renewable energy from provisions in the SPEED Act that limit the White House’s ability to arbitrarily revoke permits it doesn’t like.
The amendment was added after a procedural standoff on the House floor in which conservative opponents of renewable energy demanded concessions for a vote.
“That provision codifies the broken permitting landscape,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who supports permitting reform but opposes the SPEED Act.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle in the Senate to craft a bipartisan bill that can become law.”
