The Obama Administration issued guidance this week to implement Executive Order 13604 issued in March 2012 that is intended to speed up the environmental review and permitting process for major infrastructure projects. The Executive Order called for creation of a Federal Plan detailing a government-wide initiative to modernize the Federal permitting and review process to achieve better projects, improved environmental and community outcomes, and shorter decision-making and review timelines for infrastructure projects.
This Plan has two overarching goals:
- More efficient and effective review of proposed large-scale and complex infrastructure projects, resulting in better projects, improved outcomes for communities, and faster permit decision-making and review timelines;
- Transparency, predictability, accountability, and continuous improvement of routine infrastructure permitting and reviews.