Federal Agencies Agree To Speed Project Permitting

The U.S. DOT and 10 other federal agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 9, 2018, which became effective on April 10, 2018.  The MOU¹ is intended to implement Executive Order 13807 (Aug. 15, 2017), which established a "One Federal Decision" policy for infrastructure projects that require authorizations by multiple federal agencies. Under the MOU, a lead federal agency must be designated to be responsible for addressing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the preparation of a single Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The lead agency will establish a single Permitting Timetable that all federal agencies must follow. The MOU mandates that all federal authorizations must be resolved within 90 days of issuance of the lead agency's Record of Decision (ROD) on the EIS, with limited exceptions.