Today, Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah), U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) released the following statements on the Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act introduced yesterday. This bipartisan bill aims to improve our federal infrastructure permitting process, building upon reforms that were included in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). The Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act will help spur job creation, save taxpayer resources, and more.    

“Necessary infrastructure improvements have been suffocated by environmental litigation and a convoluted permitting process for far too long. In 2015, we passed a five year authorization known as the FAST Act, which significantly reformed the federal infrastructure permitting process while leaving environmental protections in place.  It was a no-brainer solution that garnered bipartisan support, and one that has proven to be successful in helping more than 40 infrastructure projects through the permitting process.”

 “Today, the Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act looks to make the success of this program permanent and applicable to even more projects in need of completion. Striving to save taxpayer dollars, cooperation amongst agencies, and cutting the permitting process down to two years or less is simply common sense.  I look forward to working with U.S. Rep. Armstrong as we advocate for these improvements and make a proven solution a permanent one.” – Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah)

 “Anyone who has dealt with the federal government knows the frustration that the slow bureaucratic process can bring. Government delays to infrastructure projects have a tangible cost to job growth. Every delay in a project due to the federal government is a delay to infrastructure investment and job creation. The Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act allows more projects to qualify and streamlines the permitting process. Simply put, more projects will be able to be completed in a shorter period of time. This is a win for jobs. This is a win for infrastructure improvements.” – Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.)

 “Businesses that are playing by the rules should not face excessively long permitting decisions. Rural Minnesota needs infrastructure improvements, and this bill works to reduce the red tape that delays progress.” – Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)

Background:

This bill is the House companion to Senator Rob Portman’s legislation, S. 1976, which was introduced in June and was previously introduced as S. 3017 in the 115th Congress. The bipartisan Federal Permitting Improvement Act was incorporated as Title 41 in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, which was signed into law in 2015.

Link to Bill Text HERE.