U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) led the reintroduction of the REBUILD Act, which would streamline highway construction timelines and eliminate the need for redundant environmental reviews at the federal level, on Thursday.
The legislation, also known as the Reducing Environmental Barriers to Unified Infrastructure and Land Development Act, was originally released two years ago. It creates a streamlined process, which is a derivative of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Pilot Program.
“One of the easiest and cheapest ways we can get Americans working again is by removing unnecessary red tape,” Calvert explained. “The REBUILD Act will enable the construction of critical infrastructure projects at a lower cost and on a faster timetable without compromising any environmental protections.”
The language in the REBUILD Act allows a state to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with a designated federal agency that has environmental review responsibilities under NEPA and assume the review responsibilities of that agency. Under the REBUILD Act, states would still be required to uphold the same NEPA standards or greater.
By assuming these responsibilities, states could integrate NEPA compliance into their own state approval process for highway construction projects.
The program allows a limited number of states to take on the task of ensuring NEPA compliance for highway projects under the Federal Highway Administration.
In those states that chose to assume this responsibility, the length of time to complete a project review was reduced by an average of 17 months while also ensuring the goals of the NEPA process were not compromised.