Secretary Elaine Chao Touts Proposed Update to Environmental Review Process
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The Trump administration’s aim of further streamlining the environmental review process would help advance certain infrastructure projects, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Jan. 22.
“Delays are becoming all too commonplace, as government permitting regulations at all levels have grown more complex, duplicative and burdensome,” Chao said at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
“For the U.S. Department of Transportation, these changes couldn’t come at a better time. Simple, small projects can take up to a year to review. But larger projects can take many … years to get through government reviews — up to 20 years or more,” the secretary added.
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The administration has proposed a rulemaking to update regulations within the National Environmental Policy Act. A primary objective is to incorporate a one-federal-decision approach to the permitting process.
Chao noted the department is following the one-federal-decision vision. “In fact, all relevant departments are working on a new process to handle the permitting of complicated, multi-agency projects within a new expedited timeline. This means less paperwork, and more timely improvements that will better protect the environment and our quality of life,” she explained.
The deadline to share views and perspectives with the Council on Environmental Quality about the proposal is March 10. More than 100 congressional Democrats have urged the council to extend the deadline and to schedule additional public hearings about the proposal.
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