President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that will streamline the environmental-review and permitting processes for infrastructure projects.
The streamlining will allow projects to be approved more efficiently and quickly.
Under the order, the Office of Management and Budget would establish a Cross Agency Priority (CAP) to handle infrastructure projects’ environmental reviews and permits. The CAP would be established in consultation with Federal Permitting Improvement Screening Council agencies.
Major infrastructure projects to be processed as “One Federal Decision,” meaning if milestones are missed or extended, senior agency officials would be notified.
Each agency’s National Environmental Policy Act would be reviewed by an interagency working group. The panel would identify impediments in environmental-permitting policies and regulations. Each agency would then be required to develop an action plan for removing any impediments.
Infrastructure projects must meet 65 different requirements and permits, and the average environmental review takes approximately five years.
“At the Department of Transportation, we are already putting the administration’s principles into action. We’ve identified more than two dozen policies and rules that will streamline project delivery and environmental permitting,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Chao said.
The goal is to ensure greater impact for every dollar spent so projects reach both urban and rural areas, Chao said.