Congress Passes Inflation Reduction Act
Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permittting.gov)
WASHINGTON (August 12, 2022)- Today, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark investment in our nation’s future that will transform efforts to combat climate change and infuse $350 million into the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) to advance permitting efficiency and predictability. The Act is expected to lower energy costs, increase cleaner production, and reduce carbon emissions by approximately 40% by 2030.
“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the associated funds allocated to the Permitting Council sends a resounding message to the country about the future of infrastructure development,” says Christine Harada, Permitting Council Executive Director. “It showcases how the Biden-Harris administration is doubling down on its efforts to deliver in the infrastructure decade, and is committed to using the coordination, collaboration, and transparency of the Permitting Council to realize this once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure. The Permitting Council is excited to implement this bipartisan acknowledgment of the importance of the permitting process in investing in our nation's infrastructure.”
In addition to tackling inflation and reducing healthcare costs, the Inflation Reduction Act makes the largest investment ever in combating climate change. It invests approximately $369 billion in energy security and climate change programs over the next 10 years, creating jobs manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. It will also lower household energy costs by hundreds of dollars each year.
The act contains provisions to allocate $350 million to the Permitting Council through 2031, to bolster the Council’s work to make the Federal permitting process more accountable and ultimately more efficient as the Permitting Council works to meet the goals of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the subsequent Permitting Action Plan. The Permitting Council coordinates reviews for infrastructure projects covered under FAST-41, from renewable energy to broadband installation. There are currently 24 FAST-41 projects under the purview of the Permitting Council.
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: Friday, August 12, 2022