Biden Administration Plan Would Speed Up Infrastructure Permitting

To ensure the timely and sound delivery of federal funding to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, last week the Biden administration released a plan to strengthen and accelerate permitting and environmental reviews for federal projects.

The plan contains five key elements to reform this process. These are:

• Accelerating permitting through early cross-agency coordination to appropriately scope reviews, reduce bottlenecks, and use the expertise of sector-specific teams;
• Establishing clear timeline goals and tracking key project information to improve transparency and accountability, providing increased certainty for project sponsors and the public;
• Engaging in early and meaningful outreach and communication with Tribal Nations, States, territories, and local communities;
• Improving agency responsiveness, technical assistance, and support to navigate the environmental review and permitting process effectively and efficiently; and
• Adequately resourcing agencies and using the environmental review process to improve environmental and community outcomes.

White House officials said, “Long overdue improvements to our nation’s ports, airports, rail, and roads will help ease inflationary pressures, create conditions for businesses to thrive, and strengthen supply chains–which will ultimately lower costs for families.”

Read the White House’s fact sheet here. Read the full plan here.