Trump promises massive permit reform in infrastructure bill

Source: The Hill

President Trump promised on Friday to include “massive permit reform” in his $1 trillion infrastructure package as a way to speed up the lengthy construction approval process, which he blamed for getting in the way of efforts to repair the country’s infrastructure.

Trump's goal is to bring the approval process from as long as 10 years down to two years, while providing “one point of contact to deliver ‘yes or no’ for the entire federal government,” Trump said during a speech at the Department of Transportation headquarters.

The White House will try to achieve that target by setting up a new council to assist project managers, allowing permitting steps to occur simultaneously, establishing new penalties for federal agencies that miss deadlines and creating an online dashboard for managers to track projects.

Trump’s speech wraps up a weeklong infrastructure push designed to ramp up support for his effort to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges and other public works.

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Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/337135-trump-promises-massive-permit-reform-in-infrastructure-bill