Biden exempts some semiconductor factories from environmental reviews

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed legislation that will exempt some U.S. semiconductor manufacturing facilities from federal environmental reviews that are receiving government subsidies.

Without the new law, projects from the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act of 2022 could have been forced to undergo additional federal environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to win federal permits.

Proponents say those projects had already complied with federal, state and local environmental regulations and permitting requirements and that without the change they could have potentially faced years of additional delays.

Environmental groups like the Sierra Club, say the reviews are essential to "keep communities and workers safe from the hazardous contaminants used in the semiconductor industry."

The U.S. Commerce Department has allocated more than $35 billion for 26 projects, including $6.4 billion in grants under the 2022 law to South Korea's Samsung to expand chip production in Texas, $8.5 billion for Intel, $6.6 billion for Taiwan region's TSMC to build out its American production, and $6.1 billion for Micron Technology to fund U.S. factories.

The White House said it will "continue to uphold our commitment to ensuring that semiconductor projects are built and operated in a way that meets clean water, clean air, endangered species, and other federal requirements and minimizes risks and impacts to workers, public health, and the environment."

The Semiconductor Industry Association had warned that without the law the reviews could have slowed or stopped projects already under construction.

The bipartisan legislation was co-authored by Democratic Senator Mark Kelly and Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

"By preventing unnecessary delays in the construction of microchip manufacturing facilities, this bill will help maximize our efforts to bring this industry back to America, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthening our supply chains," Kelly said.

Cruz said the effort to streamline permits is "a crucial step in onshoring jobs and making our country less dependent on China for semiconductors critical to national defense."

U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren criticized the bill and said that California was home to sites that had been polluted from prior semiconductor or microelectronics manufacturing.

"We should be learning from this legacy and ensuring we don't repeat it," she said, calling reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act "a vitally important tool in this regard."