Council Works to Implement Provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (Media@fpisc.gov) 
 

WASHINGTON (September 6, 2022)- This week the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) Executive Director released its third fiscal quarter Agency Performance Report. This report assesses agency compliance with the provisions of Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), and identifies the provisions of FAST-41 with which the Executive Director will assess agency compliance in successive reports, as the Permitting Council builds a compliance reporting infrastructure.

“I am excited to see the Permitting Council members’ work to take on the once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment goals laid out in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, ” says Christine Harada, Executive Director of the Permitting Council. “The groundwork that Federal agencies put into place during the third quarter will bear fruit as they implement the reforms laid out in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law throughout the duration of the year.” 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) reauthorized the Permitting Council and strengthened FAST-41 requirements, including imposing the requirement for the Executive Director to quarterly evaluate agency performance in implementing FAST-41. The Permitting Council expects to provide a more comprehensive Quarterly Agency Performance Report for the 4th fiscal quarter of 2022, after agencies have had a full reporting period following implementation of new BIL requirements on the Federal Permitting Dashboard.

During the third fiscal quarter of 2022 there were 23 active FAST-41 covered projects on the Permitting Dashboard, with the majority in the offshore wind, solar and other renewable energy sectors. This represents nearly $90B in infrastructure investments in the United States.

View the third fiscal quarter Agency Performance Report 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, 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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