Although modernizing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has been under discussion and study for decades, efforts have been minimal since 1986.
However, in 2017 President Trump’s Executive Order – “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environment Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure” – requested that the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) find ways to shorten the time for projects that are undergoing environmental reviews.
The Associated General Contractors of America has made several recommendations to the CEQ including:
Eliminating an alternative to a proposed project when it would result in a significant budget overrun or change to the project’s location.
No NEPA reevaluation for minor changes to a proposed project
Setting time limits for routine actions
Some of the requirements to reduce the NEPA process to two years would require:
A designated champion in the lead agency for advancing the project
Early public outreach
Positive and improved communications between the lead agency and project developer
A mutually agreed upon end date
A coordinated and concurrent permitting and review process between agencies
Eliminating redundancies between agencies
Also, the US DOT announced two new rule changes to streamline its permitting process for infrastructure projects: 1) limiting environmental impact statements to 150 pages, and 2) that one federal agency be designated to handle a project’s environmental review and permitting process. These changes could reduce permitting time to as few as two years.
If you’re interested in discussing these developments further please let me know.