Contractors, Engineers Ask Congress to Reform, Streamline Federal Permitting Process

Re-Published With Permission From Construction News and Review

By Kerry Smith Buck | President & CEO, CNR Magazine

The construction industry is pushing for one federal decision permitting framework, especially in light of the slew of infrastructure-related projects coming down the pike via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Prime contractors and subcontractors are requesting that the federal government simplifies the permitting process on publicly funded work so they can begin the work sooner, keep the project humming and get paid sooner. Delays in all the necessary permits, they say, cause project delays and make for labor headaches, scarcity of talent and financial strain for subs and others. Those who have been awarded IIJA-specific projects fear that the currently inefficient federal permitting process could add years to the projects’ duration.

“We are asking for anything that can simplify this process,” said American Subcontractors Association Government Relations Director Mike Oscar. “This is most likely the biggest federal issue for us going into 2025. As it now stands, permitting related to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (USDOT), the Army Corps of Engineers, the Dept. of Defense and other agencies are all operating according to their own schedules and deadlines. All this takes time. And the longer that permit is held up, the longer the subcontractor is waiting.”

Jeff Mulliken, PhD, is executive vice president and partner at Carolina Transportation Engineers and Associates. Mulliken says the federal government’s permitting process – all agencies – assuredly needs improving.

“Right now, different permitting requirements are making projects more complex and simply unnecessarily delaying them,” Mulliken said. “We’re not seeking to circumvent the process. We’re merely advocating for a single entity that takes the lead, creates and publicizes the schedule and sets milestones. Projects can linger for many, many years with the federal permitting process we have now.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 is an example of federal legislation that is modernizing the environmental review process, according to Mulliken. “This is a great change,” he said.

“We’ve got to work toward a single federal agency heading the permitting on large infrastructural construction projects,” said Mulliken. “Without streamlining of the process, a project could get delayed for one to five years and the cost escalation over that time period may hinder the project from moving forward. Not only does it create hardships for the contractor and other project team members, but it also creates frustration from the public who is counting on that project coming to fruition.

One ask that Mulliken and others are making of the federal government is a move toward public outreach and electronic documentation. “Both of these avenues would greatly save time,” he said. “We are asking Congress to extend the funding levels and the timeline for IIJA projects to ensure that the money is able to be allocated toward these highly necessary infrastructure projects.”

A White House study in 2020 found that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process, which most major infrastructure projects must go through to receive a federal permit, takes between three and a half and six years to complete, on average.

That said, some project owners preparing to see their manufacturing plants built will benefit from slightly streamlined environmental permitting under NEPA, thanks to an Oct. 4 exemption that allows some U.S. semiconductor fabs to forego additional environmental reviews – potentially expediting projects that are receiving federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act.

Another impediment to receiving approved federal permits earlier, according to the Executive Office of the President Council on Environmental Quality, has to do with software. Many offices and agencies in the federal government use stand-alone permitting software that is not integrated with other applications; this results in unnecessary parallel processes and more delays.

Lack of experience is another barrier to a smoother, more expedited permitting process. Local permitting offices often need more familiarity and experience with large-scale infrastructure projects and their complex subject matter. And while permitting-issuing agencies typically have lean staffs, since Covid the shortages are more pronounced.