Trump Calls for Modernized Technology in Infrastructure Permitting

Reflecting the Trump Administration’s priorities in efficient government operations and increasing energy dominance, the White House issued the Updating Permitting Technology for the 21st Century memorandum on April 15th. The memorandum calls on the federal government to use innovative technology to simplify current processes for reviewing and evaluating infrastructure permits.

“Executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall make maximum use of technology in environmental review and permitting processes for infrastructure projects of all kinds, such as roads, bridges, mines, factories, power plants, and others…,” according to the Policy and Purpose section of the memorandum.

According to the memorandum’s fact sheet, the environmental review and permitting process lacks transparency and outdated technology, with some infrastructure projects lasting a decade or more to complete.

The memorandum calls for the following actions to establish its purpose:

1. Establishing an interagency Permitting Innovation Center under the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to design and test prototype tools for environmental permitting and authorization (due May 6)
2. Issuing a Permitting Technology Plan by CEQ and National Energy Dominance Council to modernize the technology used for permitting and environmental review processes (due May 30)
3. Implementing CEQ data and technology standards and minimum functional requirements from the plan in new and existing environmental reviews (due 90 days from Permitting Technology Plan issuance)

The Permitting Technology Plan will include a roadmap to create a unified interagency permitting and environmental review data system to reduce siloed information sharing among stakeholders and reduce duplicative requirements and efforts among federal agencies. Specifically, the system will include shared services that, “includes iterative development of new platforms, tools, and capabilities, key investments and decision points for consolidating digital infrastructure,” according to the memorandum.

Expected outcomes of the EO, with implications for AEC and IT contractors include:

• Accelerated processing time for infrastructure projects
• Improved transparency and predictability of permitting schedules
• Reduced duplicative data submissions among agencies
• Digitized application and review process-related documents
• Increased accessibility of documents for permit applications
• Increased accessibility of interagency analysis of applications for the same projects
• Bolstered technology at legal departments to support challenged documents and permit decisions
• Increased data collection and improve decision making of environmental review and permitting processes

For additional information regarding the initiatives of the new administration, please refer to GovWin's First 100 Days Resource Center.