APWA appears in the U.S. House Panel to support SPEED Act
The American Public Works Association (APWA) President Dominick Longobardi, appeared in front of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources to support the SPEED Act. The APWA is the world’s largest organization of public works professionals, Longobardi who is the president for the rest of 2025 also is the deputy town comptroller and director of purchasing for the Town of Hempstead, NY.
He took to Washington, DC, to represent the APWA’s support for Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization (SPEED) Act. This is the third time the APWA has discussed reforms before the House Committee on Natural Resources. The APWA specifically supports these provisions in the bill:
- Define “reasonably foreseeable” as being in the area directly affected by a major Federal action, directly under the control of the agency, and having a reasonably close causal relationship between a change in the environment and the project,
- Ensure project comments are directly related to the proposed action and are within the scope of agency jurisdiction and limit the standing for civil action to those who have substantively participated in that public comment period, and
- Establish a statute of limitations for NEPA cases in line with other environmental laws and create maximum timelines for judicial review.
“Protecting a framework that incorporates the institutional knowledge of local experts, such as public works professionals, ensures that a project can be implemented quickly, with community buy-in, minimizing the chance of litigation, and enhancing the quality of life we all work hard for and cherish,” said Longobardi.
