When U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) originally co-authored Title 41 of the bipartisan Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) in 2015, establishing the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council to oversee government infrastructure projects, he actually misjudged the magnitude of the council’s success.
To date, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s progress in streamlining federal permitting for infrastructure projects has already saved $1 billion in costs since it was created in 2015, council members told Sen. Portman and FAST-41 co-author U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) during a June 27 public roundtable.
“When we came up with this idea, we hoped it would save both project sponsors and our government time and money,” said Sen. Portman. “Based on the council’s testimony today that it has saved $1 billion in infrastructure project costs, I think it is safe to say that the permitting council has significantly exceeded our expectations.”
To build on the council’s successes to date, Sen. Portman on June 6 introduced a new bipartisan bill, the Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act, S. 3017, which would eliminate the current seven-year sunset on FAST-41, allow the council to assist more federal projects, and encourage permitting agencies to complete the permitting process within two years, according to a summary from the senator’s office. Sen. McCaskill is the original cosponsor of the measure.
“Things don’t happen around here quickly, but good ideas have a way of latching on — and this is a good idea,” Sen. McCaskill said during the roundtable. “This is an idea that is going to make a difference in terms of saving taxpayers money, it’s going to make a difference in terms of being able to get infrastructure in place in a way that saves local jurisdictions money, and saves money for the companies that are willing to invest in these infrastructure projects.”
The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also on June 27 held a hearing regarding S. 3017. Sens. Portman and McCaskill are both members of the committee, with Sen. McCaskill serving as ranking member.
The original FAST-41 was designed to streamline and speed up the federal permitting process for the largest and most complex projects, which were laden with an uncoordinated federal review process, according to a committee statement, which noted that S. 3017 aims to improve federal permitting for some of the largest infrastructure projects and build on the lawmakers’ successful 2015 efforts to streamline this process.
“These cost savings show the council is fulfilling its mission admirably,” Sen. Portman added. “I thank the council for their hard work to date and look forward to continuing our work together to streamline the permitting process and ensure we expedite critical infrastructure projects around the country.”
S. 3017 remains under consideration by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.