AASHTO Journal, 2 August 2013
U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Rob Portman (R-OH) this week introduced a bipartisan measure that would streamline the federal permitting process for many infrastructure projects in an effort to help spur greater investment and economic growth and better assist states and local governments through the process.
“In order to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of America and encourage job creation here at home, we must reduce regulatory barriers that are preventing businesses from expanding and innovating and reducing out global competitiveness,” Portman said in a statement. “Under the current U.S. system, many major capital projects get bogged down in a lengthy approval process and never see the light of day. By streamlining the federal permitting process, our bill will speed up regulatory review for these economy-boosting projects and investments.”
Portman and McCaskill’s bill, the Federal Permitting Improvement Act, attempts to improve the current permitting process, which can be duplicative and time consuming and exhibit a lack of coordination between various agencies involved in a project, which results in difficulties for states going through the process to get a project done. The new measure would improve the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects costing $25 million or more by: calling for more cooperation with state and local permitting authorities; ensuring greater transparency and early public involvement (which would include a new website that tracks federal permit approvals); cutting the timeframe in which major projects are vulnerable to environmental lawsuits from six years to 150 days; and identifying best practices and deadlines for required reviews and approvals for the different types of infrastructure projects (such as designating a single lead agency for a project when there are multiple partners and agencies).
“We need to continue getting folks back to work, and that’s exactly what this bill aims to do,” McCaskill said in a statement. “American employers can’t afford unnecessary and duplicative delays while multiple federal agencies check boxes—we need a streamlined and navigable process that allows businesses and communities aiming to construct large projects the freedom to get them off the ground.”
Additional information on the newly introduced measure is available here.