The House Natural Resources Committee approved bipartisan legislation Thursday meant to accelerate federal approvals of infrastructure and energy projects, a reform that members of both parties say is necessary to prevent all kinds of projects from being tied up by bureaucracy.

Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) permitting reform bill, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, or SPEED, Act, advanced out of the committee Thursday afternoon after a more than five-hour hearing in a 25-18 vote.