Annual Report to Congress: Permitting Council Helping Deliver Needed Infrastructure for America

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:

www.permits.performance.gov/tools/becoming-fast-41-covered-project.

View the full press release