Trump rolls out executive order to speed infrastructure permitting, approval

Dive Brief:

President Trump this week signed an executive order to ease regulatory approval of large infrastructure projects, including speeding permit decisions once an environmental review is complete.
The executive order requires that federal decisions for the construction of a major infrastructure project must be completed within 90 days of the issuance of a record of decision by the federal agency leading the review.
The order was supported by the utility sector and opposed by environmentalists. But news of the order was swept aside by a combative news conference Trump gave Tuesday, which focused on white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va. that occurred over the weekend.

Dive Insight:

In January, the Trump administration released a 50-item list of infrastructure priorities that included provisions for transmission expansion, wind and energy storage, among other power sector projects, but has been slow to follow up until now.

President Trump's push for infrastructure is one area where he thinks bipartisan support is possible, and he has a pessimistic view of how things stand now.

“We used to have the greatest infrastructure anywhere in the world, and today we’re like a third-world country,” he said this week. “No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay.”

In addition to speeding federal decision, the executive order does away with requirements, put in place by President Obama, that required the government to consider climate change when making decisions.

Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn praised the decision, saying retaining permits remains "one of the most significant obstacles electricity companies face."

Permitting and siting of energy infrastructure on federal lands are subject to a "wide array of land-use authorizations and associated environmental reviews," Kuhn continued. "As a result, the average timeframe for permitting and siting an interstate transmission line is approximately seven to 10 years."

Climate change considerations included in infrastructure decisions included sea-rise concerns, and conservation groups decried the order. Environmental Defense Fund called it a rollback of a "key flood-risk reduction rule."

“The Trump Administration should recognize that worsening climate impacts, including more frequent and more powerful storms, require a new national commitment to safer buildings, smarter siting, and more investment in natural as well as other 'green infrastructure' to reduce emissions and increase resiliency," Elgie Holstein, senior director for strategic planning at EDF, said in a statement.

Sierra Club said the order would "result in an environmental justice crisis." Executive Director Michael Brune issued a statement saying those "fighting against projects like the Bayou Bridge pipeline in southern Louisiana and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina deserve to have their voices heard over massive corporations."

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is one such project under fire from landowners and environmental groups. The pipeline designed to move fracked natural gas from West Virginia into North Carolina and Virginia, and includes three planned compressor stations. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a favorable final environmental review in July, but until recently the commission has lacked enough members to issue a decision.