Obama Signs Order to Boost Infrastructure Projects
President Obama signed an executive order Friday that will shave months, or even years, off the time it takes to review and approve major infrastructure projects.
The executive order will allow states, local governments and private developers to begin construction sooner, create jobs earlier and fix infrastructure faster, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in his blog following the announcement.
“Cutting red tape and streamlining the process for making permitting decisions will help us meet the president’s goal of cutting in half the timelines for major infrastructure projects, while creating better outcomes for our communities and for the environment,” LaHood wrote.
Obama signed an order in March 2012 launching a government wide initiative to improve the efficiency of federal review and permitting of infrastructure projects.
Since then, agencies have expedited the review and permitting of 50 major projects, including bridges, transit, railways, waterways, roads, and renewable energy projects.
The federal government has already expedited approval for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project in New York state. By speeding up the approval process, agencies trimmed up to three years off the timeline of that multibillion dollar project, LaHood wrote.
Building America’s Future, a bipartisan coalition of elected officials dedicated to improving U.S. infrastructure, praised the president’s order, saying it “will expedite major infrastructure projects and place the U.S. on a fast-track to economic recovery.”
“Cutting the red-tape that delays infrastructure projects will enable our nation to invest in 21st century energy, transportation, water and other systems,” BAF President Marcia Hale said in a statement.
