Contact Information
Permitting Council Press Office (media@permitting.gov)

WASHINGTON (May 31, 2024) – The Permitting Council (Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council) is pleased to announce the latest project to receive permitting assistance through the FAST-41 program, the Winnebago Tribe Broadband Connectivity Project. This $35 million project aims to bring critically needed broadband infrastructure to over 800 households, 46 businesses and 16 Tribal institutions in Winnebago, Nebraska. 

“I’m proud to welcome the Winnebago Tribe Broadband Connectivity Project as our third FAST-41 Tribal broadband project.” said Eric Beightel, Permitting Council Executive Director. “The Permitting Council is a critical piece of the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on accelerating the deployment of broadband to communities across the country. Each project that receives our permitting assistance benefits from improved transparency and efficiency during the environmental review and permitting process and we look forward to working with the Winnebago Tribe to advance this critical Tribal infrastructure project."

If permitted this project will provide broadband service to the Winnebago Reservation and adjacent communities to connect residents with reliable and affordable high-speed internet. Project sponsors believe that this project could transform everyday life in the local community by providing access to households, schools, businesses, community centers, and medical facilities, improving the quality of life for hundreds who live and work in and around the reservation. 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is providing funding for this project, which proposes to install 235 miles of underground fiber, connecting every household and business within the Winnebago Reservation. The Winnebago Tribe’s funding was one of 23 grants provided in the latest awards by the NTIA.   

Learn more about the Winnebago Tribe Broadband Project 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.