Press Release for FAST-41 Annual Report to Congress for FY 2019
Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permittting.gov)
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) issued its Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2019, showcasing another year of success in reducing costs and timelines for permitting infrastructure projects that fuel America’s job market and economy.
“President Trump inherited a fragmented Federal process for authorizing infrastructure projects, fraught with unnecessary costs, delays, and uncertainty,” said Executive Director Alexander Herrgott. “As this annual report demonstrates, the Permitting Council plays a vital role in President Trump’s commitment to cutting red tape and delivering infrastructure that America’s communities and businesses need now more than ever. The Permitting Council has helped reduce delays, costs, and uncertainty for these vital infrastructure projects, while ensuring environmental protection.
“This year alone we reduced environmental review times for projects covered by the Council by an average of 1.5 years, supported the creation of more than 127,000 temporary construction jobs and over 3,000 permanent jobs across the country. We estimate that if Federal agencies complete all Federal permitting decisions that are achievable for Council-managed projects in the next 365 days, the result will be $56 billion in new infrastructure investment and over 40,000 new construction-related jobs. That does not include increased production and job creation in all related American sourced supply chains, such as the purchase and manufacture of 795,000 tons of American steel and over 14.70 million cubic yards of concrete and asphalt.”
Background:
The report assesses the performance of the Permitting Council’s 13 Federal agencies in implementing the best practices identified in Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) to improve the efficiency and quality of environmental reviews and authorizations. Highlights from the report include:
Meaningful economic impact; projects that completed the Federal permitting process in FY 2019 represent $12.7 billion in economic investment. Newly added projects represent $1.4 billion in economic investment.
Permits completed ahead of schedule, including the Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project, completed 2.5 months ahead of schedule and the Venture Global Calcasieu Pass Terminal and TransCameron Pipeline Project, completed 1.5 months ahead of schedule.
$50 million in cost savings and 14% time reduction over three years from the U.S. Forest Service’s process improvements to deliver more efficient environmental analyses and decisions.
Industry-leading investment in technology by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to speed communication with agencies and stakeholders, including project-specific email notifications, electronic filings, and social media notifications.
FAST-41 is a voluntary program; project sponsors must opt-in and meet the requirements for inclusion. For more information, please visit:
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: Thursday, May 21, 2020