Regulatory Alert: President Trump Issues Order to Speed Infrastructure Project Approvals
June 5, 2020
On June 4, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at accelerating an economic recovery from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic by expediting approvals of infrastructure projects. The order is a broad directive to the heads of executive agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to use relevant emergency authorities to authorize and speed the completion of infrastructure projects within the next 30 days. The order also reiterates the administration's policy that such agencies should be taking all reasonable measures to expedite any other actions that will strengthen the economy and return Americans to work.
You may read the executive order.
Executive Order Highlights. The executive order outlines new requirements for government agencies that are intended to advance the administration's regulatory reform agenda and spur economic growth in light of the ongoing pandemic, including:
- Requiring DOT to use relevant emergency and other authorities to expedite work on, and completion of, all authorized and appropriate infrastructure projects that are within the authority of DOT; and
- Requiring all agencies to identify actions that may be subject to emergency treatment or streamlined review under (1) the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, (2) each agency's NEPA procedures; or (3) any other statutes or regulations relating to infrastructure, environmental, or natural resource matters.
