Washington, DC - What They Are Saying: Support For President Donald J. Trump’s Action To Improve Federal Infrastructure Permitting:
Elected Officials
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI): “This is another important step toward rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. Major projects can too easily get bogged down in bureaucracy, and these reforms will go right at that logjam. This initiative reflects tools Congress provided in the most recent highway bill to expedite critical projects. Moreover, this builds on our recent action to provide critical funding for improvements to our bridges, highways, railways, and airports. We will continue to work with the administration to advance this priority.”
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY): “The Trump administration is taking coordinated action to speed up necessary infrastructure projects. The president’s plan sets a two-year goal of completing the permitting process. Roads, bridges, dams and water systems that take months to build shouldn’t take a decade to permit. This is a commonsense idea that will help get projects done faster, better, cheaper and smarter.”
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK): “.@realDonaldTrump continues to keep his word. Like I said in my @WashTimes op-ed, we need to cut the red tape to build #infrastructureinAmerica and today’s actions are doing just that….”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA): “Time is money. Reviewing and approving infrastructure projects in the most efficient way possible is critical to our Nation’s efforts in building a 21st century infrastructure and keeping project costs from escalating. I am pleased that the Administration is exercising the authority provided by Congress to streamline the review process for infrastructure projects. Today’s announcement is a positive step forward in the fight against inefficient, bureaucratic permitting.”
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT): “Projects designed to improve our country’s infrastructure are failing to move forward due to a tangled web of oppressive and duplicative environmental regulations. I support any effort to streamline outdated laws and bring commonsense back to our nation’s infrastructure.”
Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA): “A 21st century #infrastructure system requires a streamlined, efficient regulatory process that no longer stands in the way of progress. Excited to see this Administration partnering with Congress to do just that. @WhiteHouse #infrastructureinamerica”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY): “President Trump understands how inefficient, burdensome, and costly the federal permitting process has been on industries that affect prosperous businesses and communities in Wyoming. By signing the ‘One Federal Decision’ Memorandum of Understanding, the EPA, Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Energy are heralding in an important and welcome change, providing streamlining and relief from years of an overreaching federal bureaucracy.”
Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND): “This news from @POTUS makes it clear this administration understands that innovation, not regulation, is how we make the most of our energy and natural resources. With smart, efficient infrastructure, we can create healthy and vibrant communities.”
Cabinet Members & Administration Officials
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke: “As both a lead agency and a permitting agency, the Department of the Interior understands the importance of having an efficient permitting process. I am 100 percent committed to ensuring that the Department does its part to collaborate and work together with other Federal agencies to complete the necessary reviews in accordance with the permitting timetable.”
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue: “This MOU will eliminate the potential for conflicting decisions, so that project sponsors don’t get one answer from agency and another answer from another agency. In agriculture, we’ve gotten some of those mixed signals before, and they’re very frustrating. President Trump is making good on his promise to free our economy from needless regulations and bureaucratic delays, and One Federal Decision is another example.”
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson: “The business-like approach established by the One Federal Decision Framework and MOU will provide greater predictability in the process for project sponsors, while ensuring HUD-assisted projects continue to meet federal, state, and local environmental standards.”
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao: “The Department has been vigorously implementing the President’s ‘One Federal Decision’ policy since last August to reduce costs and unnecessary burdens that have long delayed infrastructure projects. It is essential for all Federal resource agencies to work together to cut red tape and deliver infrastructure and safety improvements more rapidly and spurring economic growth.”
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry: “The President’s One Agency MOU will reduce unnecessary hurdles, provide investors with critical certainty, drive investments, and speed up projects that will allow the US to export more of our new found energy.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen: “Instead of being bogged down in federal bureaucracy, the One Federal Decision MOU signed by @POTUS today will enable @DHSgov to move more quickly on projects that are critical to our national security.”
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt: “President Trump’s leadership on this issue is the reason we’re making strides to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Today’s MOU will streamline permitting processes and position EPA as a partner, not an obstacle, to making much-needed infrastructure improvements as quickly and safely as possible.”
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney: “This agreement is another step toward fulfilling the President’s promise to make government more effective, more efficient, and more accountable to the American taxpayer. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and vision, America will be more vibrant, prosperous, and advanced. The Office of Management and Budget will ensure that agencies maintain their responsibilities to remove red tape and streamline government bureaucracy.”
Chief of Staff of the Council on Environmental Quality Mary Neumayr: “The One Federal Decision framework and MOU provides an efficient approach under which Federal agencies can carry out their NEPA and permitting responsibilities in a coordinated and concurrent way. The framework and MOU also help to ensure that agencies are not duplicating analysis and are minimizing the need to revisit key decisions later in the process. Through early coordination, adequate project planning, and consideration of the relevant alternatives, the MOU ensures that timely decisions are made.”
Secretary of the Army Dr. Mark T. Esper: “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is committed to meeting the needs of our Nation’s project sponsors in the processing of its environmental reviews and permits in a timely, coordinated and concurrent way as called for in the MOU.”
Policy Organizations and Labor Unions
Business Roundtable Infrastructure Committee Chair and Chairman and CEO of AECOM Mike Burke: “Today’s action by the Administration is a welcome change that will not only expedite review and approval of important infrastructure projects, but also help increase American competitiveness and economic growth.”
Business Roundtable Smart Regulation Committee Chair and Chairman and CEO of Eastman Mark Costa: “For years, onerous permitting processes and lengthy reviews have stood between American communities and infrastructure improvements they need and depend upon. This is an important move by the Administration to promote a smart, streamlined regulatory environment that will help unlock investment, leading to economic growth and job creation.”
North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU): “The steps taken today by several Executive Branch departments and agencies will hopefully lead to a more efficient permitting process without sacrificing the integrity of the underlying statutes that keep our members safe on the jobsite and protect the environment. This new commitment, building upon the president’s One Federal Decision initiative, will streamline the federal permitting process to produce timely outcomes, deliver certainty to both public and private project investors, and most importantly, deliver certainty for job opportunities for the hard working men and women of North America’s Building Trades Unions who build our nation’s infrastructure.”
National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons: “Reforming the permitting process for infrastructure projects is yet another great step from @POTUS towards fixing our nation’s infrastructure. This issue is critical for manufacturers. Glad to see continued WH leadership, we’re ready to help! #TimeToBuild”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley: “We welcome the administration’s commitment to One Federal Decision and applaud it as a much-needed step in the process to modernize America’s infrastructure. We’re eager to see more of this kind of reform-minded progress from the administration and Congress in the weeks and months to come.”
