Permitting Council Recognizes Transformative Accomplishments in the Federal Permitting Process in Celebration of IRA Anniversary
Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permittting.gov)
WASHINGTON (August 16, 2023) – As we mark the one-year anniversary of the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest climate investment in history, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) is excited to recognize the accomplishments achieved since its passing. The IRA’s game-changing infusion of funding into the federal permitting process has enabled federal agencies to make significant strides to address critical gaps in infrastructure permitting resources. The IRA is paving the way for groundbreaking changes in the way the federal government conducts environmental reviews and permitting.
“The changes underway across the federal permitting landscape just one year into the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act are transformational,” says Permitting Council Executive Director Eric Beightel. “I am proud that our agency is playing such a pivotal role in fulfilling the ambitious permitting, climate action, and clean energy goals of the Biden-Harris administration.”
The IRA provided more than $1 billion to support permitting across the federal government, including $350 million in funding over nine years for the Permitting Council’s Environmental Review Improvement Fund. Over the last year, the Council Executive Director, in coordination with the Permitting Council, approved nearly $143 million in funding transfers to federal agencies to help facilitate and improve the Federal infrastructure permitting process. This influx of funding from the IRA is providing permitting staff at Federal agencies, improving information technology tools to increase permitting efficiency, and supporting early planning and stakeholder engagement. These vital investments will advance responsible permitting of infrastructure projects, delivering on President Biden’s agenda to:
reduce broadband application processing times and expedite issuance of broadband authorizations;
improve the mining examination process regarding validity of mining claims and critical minerals plans of operation; and
provide critical support to more efficiently complete actions needed as part of the environmental reviews and authorizations of electricity transmission, renewable energy, and broadband projects.
To learn more about progress implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, visit WhiteHouse.gov.
About the Permitting Council and FAST-41
Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) and made permanent in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Permitting Council is a unique federal agency charged with improving the transparency and predictability of the federal environmental review and authorization process for certain critical infrastructure projects. The Permitting Council is comprised of the Permitting Council Executive Director, who serves as the Council Chair; 13 federal agency Council members (including deputy secretary-level designees of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Housing and Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairs of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation); and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Permitting Council coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage. FAST-41 covered projects are entitled to comprehensive permitting timetables and transparent, collaborative management of those timetables on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. FAST-41 covered projects may be in the renewable or conventional energy production, electricity transmission, energy storage, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, mining, carbon capture, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage and data management, and cybersecurity sectors. The Permitting Council also serves as a federal center for permitting excellence, supporting federal efforts to improve infrastructure permitting including and beyond FAST-41 covered projects to the extent authorized by law, including activities that promote or provide for the efficient, timely, and predictable completion of environmental reviews and authorizations for federally-authorized infrastructure projects.
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Last Updated: Tuesday, August 22, 2023