The administration’s recent aim at advancing infrastructure projects through environmental permitting changes was “touted” by President Donald Trump during an address with industry stakeholders, according to Transport Topics.
At the 2020 Council for National Policy meeting Aug. 21, the president insisted permitting reforms would help advance large-scale highway projects.
“To build a highway in this country, it could take, in certain places, 18, 19, 20, even 21 years to get approved. This is not even thinkable. And we’ve got it now down to two, and we’ll have it down to probably one. And it may get rejected for safety reasons or for environmental reasons. That’s OK; it may happen. But we have it down — we will soon have it down to one year from as much as 21 years,” Trump said.
The administration announced a final rule meant to modernize and accelerate environmental reviews to enhance efficiency. The move would ideally facilitate a two-year period for completion of certain environmental impact statements.
