Interactive Federal Review Act proposes permitting reform for highway infrastructure

Under bicameral legislation introduced last week by a partisan collection of federal lawmakers, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) could push forward with demonstrations of streamlined digital, cloud-based platforms for analysis and engagement related to its projects.

Meant as a way to improve efficiency for both environmental review processes and community oversight, the Interactive Federal Review Act would require the FHWA to select at least 10 federal highway projects to demonstrate such measures. The senators cited FHWA data to justify the proposal, noting that a typical Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) now takes an average of 6.5 years to complete – nearly triple the time it took when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was created more than 50 years ago.

“Environmental reviews are stuck in the ’90s and continue to delay critical infrastructure projects for years at a time, discouraging innovation and growth,” U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), one of the bill’s sponsors, said. “We need to take advantage of all opportunities to modernize and accelerate the review process. The Interactive Federal Review Act would do just that.”

Johnson was joined in this by fellow U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) and U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).

Among other things, the legislation would move the development of NEPA documents from static PDFs, generally delivered by email, to interactive, cloud-based platforms. By allowing real-time, concurrent reviews by agencies and greater transparency of the process, the lawmakers estimated this would reduce the cumulative amount of time spent reviewing documents for large projects by 50 percent.

“Utilizing 21st century technology to speed up the environmental review process for transportation infrastructure projects maximizes the benefits of our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Kelly said. “Completing projects like widening I-10 and building I-11 without unnecessary and costly delays will fuel economic growth, strengthen our supply chain, and improve Arizonans’ quality of life.”

Groundwork for such efforts was laid with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which while focused on items like increasing the federal debt limit and creating new discretionary spending limits, also acknowledged the possibility for digital portals in NEPA projects. Now, the Interactive Federal Review Act would take that concept and apply it to highway projects.