Permitting

One of the top infrastructure priorities facing policymakers in 2019 is streamlining the permitting process that infrastructure projects must undertake to receive government approval. I recently discussed this priority with CNN Business, where I argued that in order to increase private participation in infrastructure development, “the key would be to streamline the permitting process and remove outdated federal rules governing procurement, revenue raising, operations, and tax treatment.” The permitting process is long and cumbersome and is a challenging factor in the successful realization of many infrastructure projects, as the time it takes to get federal approval can add unnecessary risk and cost to many projects. For example, the federal environmental review process alone for building a new highway can take up to a decade and require dozens of permits from multiple federal and state agencies.

Cutting this red tape was a main focus of the Trump Administration during my time in the White House, as evidenced by Executive Order 13807. This August 2017 executive order zeroed in on making the Federal environmental review and permitting process for infrastructure projects more coordinated, predictable, and transparent. Furthermore, President Trump’s Plan to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure focused on lowering permit time from 10 years to 2. This key component of the infrastructure package remains a legislative step that needs to be accomplished in order to free up alternative means of capital to strengthen our national infrastructure network.