The projects can still get a quick rhythm permit during the Government stop, as long as the Trump administration’s priorities are advancing, says the Federal Improvement Board of Directors.
In a letter to the Member Agencies on October 1, the executive director of the Board, Emily Domenech, said that the entity, which is funded through the Improvement Fund for the environmental review instead of annual appropriations, is ready to continue operations during the stoppage.
The Council uses the FAST-41 command board to coordinate federal environmental reviews and allow qualification projects. The dashboard is referred to in title 41 of 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transport (FAST) ACT, through which Congress established the Council and its program to speed up the permission process of some infrastructure projects. Congress made the pilot program permanent under the Investment and Work on Infrastructure Law of 2021.
Qualification projects under the Fast Law include infrastructure for energy production, electricity transmission, surface transport, aviation, ports and navigable roads, water resource projects, broadband, pipes and manufacture.
President Donald Trump led the Council to consider other projects such as mineral production facilities and data centers for accelerated permits. The Council says he has added 53 projects to the board since Trump took office in January.
During this time, the Permits Council “hopes” that any staff supported by the Environmental Review Improvement Fund “will also take advantage of the opportunity to focus their efforts entirely on the permits for issuing rapid projects-41 that are within the President’s declared priorities,” said Domenech on the letter.
The board currently lists more than 500 ongoing projects, including a combination of covered projects, certain transport projects and “transparency projects”, which are published in the direction of the executive director of the Council, as well as 30 most planned projects.
Although many other government programs have stopped and it is estimated that 750,000 federal workers were fixed, the Permits Council has available funding money to support agencies that continue to allow rapid projects of 41 during the shutdown.
“This is an opportunity to draft and effective projects that support the president’s priorities,” said Domenech.
