Bill speeds up permits and limits court power to stop them.

What it does

The SPEED Act changes how the government reviews projects before giving permits. It tells agencies to finish permit decisions in 30 days. It stops courts from canceling permits that break the rules. Courts can only order fixes, not stop the permit. People have 150 days to challenge a permit in court. They can only challenge if they spoke up during public comment.

Who it affects

Citizens lose the ability to stop bad permits in court. Companies that build projects, drill for oil and gas, mine, or develop land gain faster permits. Agencies must decide permits faster but have less time to study effects.

One thing to notice

Once a permit is issued, it almost cannot be taken back or changed. The bill says NEPA only sets rules about how to decide. It does not protect what the rules protect.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

14 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans.

• Jul 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee Hearings Held”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18”
• Dec 18, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 221 - 196 (Roll no. 356).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

216 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 320 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $157,576,534 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 9 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 100% of bills with any report.

Bruce Westerman, who sponsored the bill, received $1,184,425 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Meta Platforms, Inc. and Various Subsidiaries — $5,990,000 in 1 report
• American Petroleum Institute — $4,700,000 in 2 reports
• Amazon.com Services LLC — $4,360,000 in 1 report
• Edison Electric Institute — $4,248,610 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• NEPA — The National Environmental Policy Act. A law that makes the government study how projects affect the environment.
• permit — Official permission from the government to do something, like build a road or drill for oil.
• court — A place where judges decide if the government followed the law.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.