Trump Orders Plan to Speed Permitting of Projects Across US

(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump ordered steps to expedite federal permits in his opening bid to entice American investment and shrink timelines for building critical energy infrastructure.

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Trump’s directive, issued late Monday, marked the latest attempt by a US president to address longstanding, bipartisan complaints over the lengthy waits for proposed projects to clear environmental reviews and secure federal authorizations. It’s long been an aggravation for business leaders who say relatively slow permitting times in the US threaten to diminish domestic efforts to race ahead of global rivals in driving artificial intelligence developments and nurturing other nascent industries.

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Trump directed federal agencies to “eliminate all delays” in their permitting process, including by employing “permit by rule” — a streamlined approach for greenlighting a host of projects in one fell swoop.

But Trump’s directive is no immediate panacea — analysts described it as more of an initial step — and there are limits to how much presidents can change administratively. Longstanding US law, especially the landmark 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, sets a floor for necessary government scrutiny of proposed projects that can only be undone by Congress.

Past efforts — including those taken during Trump’s first term as president — have not dramatically changed the outlook, even as companies look to build data centers, chipmaking factories and power plants nationwide. And efforts to make major changes in Congress stalled last year, as Democrats and Republicans battled over the best approach.

Expedited Approach

Still, Trump is laying the groundwork for changes meant to expedite pipelines, power lines and other energy infrastructure.

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Under the “permit by rule” approach, agencies generally lay out requirements and effectively assure approvals for projects that meet the criteria. For air permits, historically, that process has been used for relatively small pollution sources and changes. However, Trump’s directive signals interest in a potentially much wider use to expedite authorizations.

Trump also told his agency heads to use every power they have — including emergency authorities — to expedite federal permits for projects deemed essential to the nation’s economy or security.

“Agencies shall work closely with project sponsors to realize the ultimate construction or development of permitted projects,” Trump said in his executive order directing the shift.

The president’s order asks officials to deliver recommendations for potentially new legislative limits on how and when courts can scrutinize the sufficiency of the government’s environmental reviews of projects.

Th White House Council on Environmental Quality is also being asked to propose rescinding regulations governing reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Business and oil industry interests praised the effort. “Reforming our broken permitting process” is one of several “important steps” Trump is taking “that will help grow the economy,” said Marty Durbin, president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute.

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