We rarely have the opportunity to land our dream job. But for me, a proud NEPA-nerd and environmental policy wonk, the Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council is indeed my dream job.  I am humbled, honored, and incredibly excited to serve in this role.

In order to achieve the President’s goal of transitioning to sustainable clean energy, growing the economy, and delivering on the promise of the generational investments in America’s infrastructure, we have to provide predictable, transparent, and efficient environmental reviews and approvals.  The Permitting Council is tasked with doing just that.

We have a unique opportunity to support federal and state agencies in completing timely reviews and decision making by providing funds, tools, and best practices.  I want to focus the Office of the Executive Director on customer service - being a facilitator, connector, and shepherd of the environmental review process.  While we cannot determine the outcome of the process, we can make sure that the process works effectively and efficiently, protecting the environment and engaging the public in meaningful ways that will produce better outcomes.

Under my leadership, I hope to actively engage all of our stakeholders to understand better what your pressure points are and to work collaboratively to identify solutions.  In my nearly 25 years of experience with the environmental review and permitting of infrastructure, I have seen a lot, but I do not pretend to have seen it all.  I want to learn from our project sponsors, our federal partners, our state partners, and our stakeholders to help us make the process work better.  I firmly believe that only through that open and ongoing dialogue will we be able to both move individual projects through the process while also identifying and implementing programmatic solutions.

It is an incredibly exciting time to serve. I am very much looking forward to working with the experienced and expert Office of the Executive Director (OED) staff, the Permitting Council members, and the agency Chief Environmental Permitting Review Officers (CERPOs) to clear the way to building our Nation for the 21st Century. We have a lot of work to accomplish, but together we will deliver a more sustainable and prosperous future for all Americans.

Eric Beightel, Executive Director