MODERNIZING PERMITTING TECHNOLOGY: Today, President Donald J. Trump issued a memorandum to ensure the Federal government is leveraging modern technology to effectively and efficiently conduct environmental reviews and evaluate permits.
- The Presidential Memorandum directs Federal agencies to make maximum use of technology in the environmental review and permitting processes for infrastructure projects of all kinds.
- The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in consultation with the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) and relevant permitting agencies, will issue a Permitting Technology Action Plan to guide agencies as they use technology to digitize permit applications, expedite reviews, enhance interagency coordination on projects, and give sponsors more transparency and predictability on project permitting schedules.
- CEQ will also establish and lead a Permitting Innovation Center to assist Federal agencies as they adopt new software and automate application and review processes, including to coordinate agencies in this effort.
- This will also help agencies share information with state and tribal officials to make those permitting processes easier for project sponsors.
ELIMINATING UNCERTAINTY: President Trump recognizes the environmental review and permitting process has been burdened by a lack of transparency and outdated technology.
- The current environmental review and permitting process in the United States is inefficient, unpredictable, and counterproductive to the growth of the American economy and other infrastructure projects that benefit the American people.
- Projects often involve multiple Federal agencies with overlapping statutory requirements, and expanding the use of modern technology in the environmental review and permitting process will improve coordination and reduce duplicative efforts by both Federal agencies and project applicants.
- The actual time to complete many infrastructure projects, when measured from project inception to in-service date, can be a decade or more.
RESTORING AMERICAN PROSPERITY: Environmental review and permitting reform is a top priority for the Trump Administration and this action will accelerate the process, improve the transparency and predictability of project timelines, and eliminate unnecessary delays holding back the growth of the American economy.
- As part of his America First agenda, President Trump promised to Make America Affordable and Energy Dominant Again by streamlining environmental reviews and permitting decisions.
- This memorandum builds on President Trump’s Day One Executive Order Unleashing American Energy, which includes provisions to expedite and simplify the environmental review and permitting process, and return our Nation to energy dominance.
- In response to the President’s Executive Order, the CEQ published an interim final rule to rescind its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. Rescinding this regulation removes a burdensome layer of bureaucracy, creating a clear path for agencies to expeditiously reform their own NEPA procedures and allow America to build again.
- This action to return CEQ to a consulting body, combined with the implementation of modern permitting technology, will enable better interagency coordination, resulting in the greatest and fastest permitting reform ever to take place in the decades-long history of NEPA.