WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - 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 ( INTC ), $6.6

billion for Taiwan's TSMC to build out its American

production and $6.1 billion for Micron Technology ( MU ) 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."