WASHINGTON (December 6, 2023) — The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) is pleased to announce the appointment of Alexis K. Segal as the agency’s new Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Segal most recently served as a senior policy advisor for environment and natural resources for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. 

“It is a privilege and an honor to take on this vital role at the Permitting Council,” says Segal. “I am excited to use my background in environmental policy and my years of experience on Capitol Hill to improve the federal permitting process, bringing efficiency and accountability to the forefront in order to realize transformational infrastructure across the nation.” 

As the Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, Segal will work closely with members of Congress and leaders at the federal, state and local levels in order to make the federal permitting process better coordinated and more collaborative and to achieve the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious infrastructure goals. Prior to taking on this role Segal served for seven years as a senior policy advisor on Capitol Hill, working on a variety of issues including environmental infrastructure, climate and energy. In 2023 she served as the lead on efforts to secure $442 million to implement U.S. Army Corps of Engineers infrastructure projects in California. 

“One of the most important building blocks for a new agency is securing legislative and intergovernmental affairs expertise,” says Eric Beightel, Executive Director of the Permitting Council. “With Alexis on board I know that our team now has strong capabilities to build and strengthen our relationships on the Hill and with governors and mayors across the country.  Alexis will serve as our primary communications conduit to the authorizers and appropriators of our agency, members with an interest in permitting excellence and with elected officials who are key constituents for the projects covered under FAST-41.” 

Prior to her work on Capitol Hill, Segal worked for the White House Council on Environmental Quality as the Deputy Associate Director for Ecosystems. Her portfolio included various areas of expertise, including management of the administration’s conservation, restoration, and climate resiliency and preparedness initiatives. Segal’s experience also includes serving as the Founder and Executive Director of Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, Inc. and several years working as an attorney in private practice.

A graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law (Master’s Degree in environmental and land use law), Emory University School of Law (Juris Doctor) and Georgetown University (Bachelor of Science in spanish and women’s studies), Alexis Segal began her tenure at the Permitting Council on December 4, 2023. Learn more about the Permitting Council here.

About the Permitting Council

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 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 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. 

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