ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT/INFRASTRUCTURE/JOBS/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to ensure that the Federal environmental review and permitting process for infrastructure projects is coordinated, predictable, and transparent, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. America needs increased infrastructure investment to strengthen our economy, enhance our competitiveness in world trade, create jobs and increase wages for our workers, and reduce the costs of goods and services for our families. The poor condition of America’s infrastructure has been estimated to cost a typical American household thousands of dollars each year. Inefficiencies in current infrastructure project decisions, including management of environmental reviews and permit decisions or authorizations, have delayed infrastructure investments, increased project costs, and blocked the American people from enjoying improved infrastructure that would benefit our economy, society, and environment. More efficient and effective Federal infrastructure decisions can transform our economy, so the Federal Government, as a whole, must change the way it processes environmental reviews and authorization decisions.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government to:
(a) safeguard our communities and maintain a healthy environment;
(b) ensure that Federal authorities make informed decisions concerning the environmental impacts of infrastructure projects;
(c) develop infrastructure in an environmentally sensitive manner;
(d) provide transparency and accountability to the public regarding environmental review and authorization decisions;
(e) be good stewards of public funds, including those used to develop infrastructure projects, and avoid duplicative and wasteful processes;
(f) conduct environmental reviews and authorization processes in a coordinated, consistent, predictable, and timely manner in order to give public and private investors the confidence necessary to make funding decisions for new infrastructure projects;
(g) speak with a coordinated voice when conducting environmental reviews and making authorization decisions; and
(h) make timely decisions with the goal of completing all Federal environmental reviews and authorization decisions for major infrastructure projects within 2 years.“
-Donald Trump, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects,” whitehouse.gov, Aug. 15, 2017
[Note: Read the full Executive Order signed by Donald Trump.]