Under proposals released by the Trump administration last week, the government could move to revamp the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and within a day, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) publicly lauded the reforms.
NEPA is a 50-year-old law that sought to address environmental concerns–notably requiring federal agencies to prepare environmental assessments and environmental impact statements (EIS)–and created the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Trump administration argues that the regulatory requirements of the law have become too complicated over time, however, and unnecessarily delay infrastructure projects. The administration notes that the average EIS process can take four and a half years, with highway project efforts sometimes reaching more than six years.
“It can take up to seven years to complete the environmental review process for a new federal-aid project. That’s too long,” ARTBA President Dave Bauer said. “The Trump administration’s commonsense reforms will help speed up the delivery of U.S. transportation infrastructure projects. Streamlining the NEPA process is essential to assuring that the government is making every transportation dollar go as far as possible while preserving a commitment to our environment.”
ARTBA claims the update should create a swifter review process without impacting existing environmental standards–the various requirements for complying with the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and other laws will not change. NEPA’s goals to protect vital natural resources need not be in competition with the nation’s transportation needs, ARTBA said in a statement.
“The most successful transportation streamlining provisions have been process oriented and have essentially found a path for regulatory requirements to be fulfilled in a smarter and more efficient manner,” ARTBA said.
The White House has called the proposed changes administrative improvements. As with the One Federal Decision policy the administration has pushed to improve coordination and communication between Federal agencies, the White House believes this will streamline permitting.
“The Federal government will still perform all environmental reviews as the law requires, just now with greater efficiency,” the White House said in a statement.