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Permitting Council Highlights Timely and Efficient Process in Annual Report to Congress

Contact Information 
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permittting.gov)

WASHINGTON (April 14, 2025) – Today, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) submitted its fiscal year (FY) 2024 Annual Report to Congress.  The report summarizes a year of significant progress for the agency. From shepherding seven new infrastructure projects to the permitting finish line to bolstering the permitting review and authorization capabilities of agencies across the federal government, FY2024 laid the groundwork for continued future advancements in permitting efficiencies. 

“I am extremely proud of the work we do here at the Permitting Council. This report to Congress underscores the value and benefit of sound project management and strong best practices, which the Permitting Council brings to the process, as we work with project sponsors and our federal colleagues to achieve efficiency in federal permitting,” said Manisha Patel, Acting Executive Director. “The progress we have made over the last year showcases how a commitment to transparency, predictability and accountability in infrastructure permitting can lead the nation to an innovative and economically impactful future.” 

FY2024 was a year of tremendous growth, with FAST-41 covered projects that completed records of decision (RODs) achieving finalization of their environmental impact statement (EIS) schedule 23 percent faster than non-FAST-41 covered projects. In FY2024 the Permitting Council saw the completion of seven FAST-41 covered projects in the electricity transmission, ports and waterways, and energy production sectors: 

The fiscal year also showed continued growth in the FAST-41 portfolio, with five new projects from across the country added to the Federal Permitting Dashboard. Those projects include:

The addition of these new projects signals an increasing awareness of the value of participating in the FAST-41 program, including the benefits of transparency, predictability and accountability in the federal process that come from collaboratively developing and actively managing public-facing project permitting timetables. The projects represent three different sectors across six states, demonstrating the value and benefits of the FAST-41 process, regardless of project type or geographic location. 

The report also describes the investments made by the Permitting Council to return the value of American taxpayer dollars by supporting the expertise and resources to spearhead advancements in permitting review and authorization. Through these investments the Permitting Council accomplished numerous goals, including: 

  • Creating Permitting Process Efficiencies: Many agencies are improving their processes and gaining efficiencies in the timeliness of environmental review and authorizations. For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a list of permitting requirements for five geographic regions to provide project developers with more information resulting in more efficient communication and streamlining the time NIST needs to iterate with developers.

  • IT Investments: The Permitting Council allocated over $43 million in funding for development of IT solutions that contribute to timely infrastructure review processes. These funds are supporting critically needed IT investments to strengthen the efficiency and predictability of federal agency environmental reviews and permitting processes, enabling timely environmental reviews while protecting communities and environmental resources.

View the entire Annual Report to Congress on permitting.gov.

About the Permitting Council and FAST-41

Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the Permitting Council is a unique federal agency charged with making the federal permitting process more efficient by 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 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. 

 

 

Last Updated: Monday, April 14, 2025