Interagency MOU Seeks Maximum Two Year Federal Environmental Review For Major Infrastructure Project

An interagency memorandum of understanding signed April 9, 2018 by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Agriculture Department, Army Corps of Engineers, Commerce Department, Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Permitting Improvement Council, Homeland Security Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Interior Department and Transportation Department, seeks to provide “an unprecedented level of collaboration in the environmental process,” with a goal of reaching decisions on environmental review of major infrastructure projects within two years.

Each project to be reviewed and permitted under the MOU would designate a lead agency to take charge of preparing the environmental impact statement and record of decision for eligible projects. The proposed two year time period would commence when a federal agency publishes notice of intent to develop an environmental impact statement for the project. According to U. S. Chamber of Commerce Executive ‘Vice President Neil Bradley, the MOU is “a much needed step in the process to modernize America’s infrastructure.” House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster commented, “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.”

National Resources Defense Council Legislative Director Scott Slesinger was critical of the revisions to approving and permitting infrastructure projects, saying, “President Trump’s much-ballyhooed infrastructure plan has been diminished to little more than an ideological attack on environmental safeguards. … Local residents should have a say in the projects that will define their communities for decades to come.”

Contact us for more detailed information regarding the effect of this MOU on your proposed infrastructure project or projects currently under review.