Permitting Council Executive Director Releases Quarterly Member Agency Performance Report
Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permittting.gov)
WASHINGTON (January 17, 2025) – This week, the Permitting Council Executive Director released the fiscal year 2024 fourth quarter report to Congress, evaluating federal agency compliance with FAST-41 requirements. The report showcases continued agency progress in improving the federal permitting process, supporting the efficient delivery of critical projects that will help grow the economy and make significant progress towards the nation’s clean energy goals.
“I am extremely pleased to see the results of our latest quarterly report, as it highlights the Council’s efforts to increase the transparency, accountability and predictability of federal permitting for critical infrastructure projects,” said Eric Beightel, Permitting Council Executive Director. “As the agency continues to grow in its role as a federal center for permitting excellence, I am equally pleased to know that this work will serve as a model government-wide, helping to identify best practices and lessons learned that will aid in transforming federal permitting for years to follow.”
During the fourth quarter of 2024 there were 26 FAST-41 covered projects, with the majority in renewable energy-related sectors. Two projects completed federal permitting during the quarter, including New England Wind and the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Channel Deepening project.
New England Wind Project: Comprising two wind energy projects totaling 129 wind turbine generators, the $3 billion New England Wind project is expected to produce up to 2,600 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power at least 900,000 homes each year.
Port of Corpus Christi Project: A major economic engine in the state of Texas, the Port of Corpus Christi is the largest port in the U.S. in total revenue tonnage. The channel deepening project will upgrade the channel with the capacity to accommodate transit of very large crude carriers into the Gulf of Mexico. This $400 million project will expand one of the largest ports in the nation, a major gateway to international and domestic maritime commerce.
One new project joined the FAST-41 portfolio during the fourth quarter:
Perkins Renewable Energy Project: Located east of El Centro, California on both public and private lands, the $2.5 billion Perkins Renewable Energy project is a solar photovoltaic facility and battery energy storage system that, if permitted, will produce up to 1,150 megawatts of clean renewable energy.
Additional report highlights include:
Agencies satisfied the requirements for reviewing and updating coordinated project plans (CPPs) for all FAST-41 covered projects on the Dashboard.
Of the 31 milestones scheduled to occur during the quarter, agencies completed 20 on time, including 7 that were completed ahead of schedule.
Agencies submitted 4 requests to the Executive Director to authorize date modifications that would necessitate extensions of final completion dates by more than 30 days after the originally-established final completion date. The Executive Director granted the 4 requests.
The quarterly report is now available at 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) 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, January 17, 2025