Biden-Harris Administration Expedited Federal Permitting: A New Era for Infrastructure Projects

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken significant steps to expedite federal project approvals and permitting as part of its Investing in America Agenda. The Administration has allocated over $560 billion for more than 68,000 projects nationwide and has focused on accelerating these initiatives by enhancing permitting processes while maintaining environmental and community protections.

Key actions include:

1. Investment in Expertise and Technology: $1 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act has been dedicated to hiring experts and developing new technologies to streamline project reviews.

2. Permitting Reforms: The Administration has modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalized the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to speed up environmental reviews.

3. Executive Actions: The Administration is using executive powers to improve permitting processes.

Recent initiatives include:

Bureau of Land Management: Launching a roadmap to enhance solar energy production by facilitating the siting and permitting of solar projects on over 31 million acres of public lands across 11 states.

Environmental Protection Agency: Implementing a new rule allowing Maricopa County to create clean air credits through the replacement of diesel vehicles with electric ones, supporting semiconductor manufacturing while ensuring clean air.

Results Achieved:

1. The time for completing environmental impact statements has been reduced by six months, a 16% improvement compared to previous administrations.

2. The Department of Energy has cut review times for environmental impact statements by 50% and increased the number of reviews completed by 15%.

3. The Department of Transportation has reduced environmental assessment times by over one-third and completed 20% more reviews.

4. The Department of the Interior has permitted twice as many clean energy projects on public lands as its predecessor.

Additional efforts include:

Broadband: Streamlining permits for high-speed internet projects, processing more than double the permits compared to the previous administration.

Categorical Exclusions: Expanding the use of categorical exclusions for projects with minimal environmental impact to expedite approvals, now covering the majority of federal highway and other key projects.

Recent executive actions to further improve permitting include:

Historic Preservation Reviews: Accelerating reviews for millions of projects involving clean energy, transportation, and housing.

Transmission Projects: Implementing the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) program to halve review times.

Categorical Exclusions Expansion: Adopting new exclusions for broadband, geothermal, and pipeline projects to reduce processing times and costs.

Overall, these measures reflect the Administration's commitment to delivering infrastructure projects more swiftly while balancing environmental stewardship and community protection.