WASHINGTON – Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton used the West Elk Mine near Somerset as an example of unnecessary delays from environmental regulatory procedures during a congressional hearing Wednesday.

The coal mine won U.S. Forest Service approval to expand its operations in September. Work to build roads and methane vents on the site is scheduled to begin next spring.

Tipton, R-Cortez, said regulatory requirements delayed the mine expansion by eight years, needlessly depriving some residents of jobs and income.

“They have constant lawsuits that are coming up that are stymying that,” Tipton said during a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee.

He made the comments as Congress considers revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law designed to protect the environment from industrial or government projects that could damage the environment.

It requires any organization that wants to build a project to submit environmental impact statements to the federal government. Agencies that review and decide whether to approve the statements can sometimes take years to complete the process.

The projects typically include highways, bridges, dams, oil wells and mines.

Legislative revisions being considered by Congress would require all federal agencies participating in an environmental review to appoint a single agency to consolidate all their procedures.

The agencies also would be required to meet before they begin their reviews to coordinate their efforts and expected costs.

Tipton asked the head of the public policy foundation Common Good why environmental reviews in Germany usually are completed in less than two years, compared with an average of more than 4-½ in the United States.

“It’s because they have clear lines of authority to make decisions,” said Philip K. Howard, founder and chief advocate for Common Good’s effort to simplify government.

He referred to frequent complaints by project leaders about different regulatory approvals required by multiple U.S. agencies. They can include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and others.

The German government appoints a single agency to oversee all regulatory approvals.

“So that streamlining process, that authority, is something that is going to be really critical,” Tipton asked.

“Authority is critical in a culture” to reduce regulatory barriers, Howard said.

Tipton and Colorado U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, another member of the Natural Resources Committee, raised concerns about lawsuits they said could slow economic development.

“If a lawsuit is filed, will that hold up a project,” Tipton asked.

Howard said lawsuits can add to the heavy regulatory burden projects face.

“Before you know it, years have gone by,” he said.

He supported the idea of a single agency to handle all regulatory requirements for new projects. He also said courts should be limited to ruling only in cases in which there is evidence of illegal activity in projects.

“Not just nitpicky things,” Howard said.

A lawsuit over the West Elk Mine expansion is likely soon from by the Denver-based environmental group WildEarth Guardians, whose administrators have said they are considering a citizens lawsuit under the Clean Air Act.

Lamborn said in a statement that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) “has become a magnet for litigation, with hundreds of NEPA-related lawsuits against the federal government filed or open each year.”

Colorado-based environmentalists disputed criticisms by the state’s Republican congressmen about NEPA’s failings.

“NEPA has worked in Colorado to result in better decision-making and better environmental outcomes,” said Ted Zukoski, a Denver-based attorney for the environmental defense group Earthjustice.

He mentioned the example of the Roan Plateau in northwest Colorado, which the Bureau of Land Management approved for oil and gas development. A lawsuit by local residents forced the agency to revise its approvals in 2016 after a federal judge ruled the agency violated NEPA.

Local residents were concerned about damage to wildlife and biodiversity in the Roan Plateau.

Scott Miller, a regional director for the environmental group The Wilderness Society, added, “Congress should not be undermining NEPA or the clean air, clean water, wildlife, wildlands and public participation it protects.”