This bill updates the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which coordinates environmental reviews and permit approvals for large infrastructure projects like highways, pipelines, and energy facilities. It streamlines how federal agencies handle project timelines by allowing the Council's Executive Director to mediate disputes, propose modified schedules, and require agencies to publicly report when they miss deadlines, increasing transparency through the online Permitting Dashboard. The legislation also revises how the Council collects and spends fees from project sponsors, sets a cap on those fees at 1 percent of a project's total cost, and authorizes funding for the Council's operations starting at $12 million in fiscal year 2025 and rising to $21 million by 2031. Additionally, it requires the Council to produce one-time reports within 18 months on improving its permitting workforce and the usability of its online tracking dashboard, while eliminating a previously required Government Accountability Office report. Overall, the bill aims to speed up and improve federal permitting processes for infrastructure developers, government agencies, and Native American and Native Hawaiian organizations involved in these projects.
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