releases: https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/fast-designed-to-speed-permit-process-for-businesses
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/fast-designed-to-speed-permit-process-for-businesses | FAST designed to speed permit process for businesses | 2015-12-15 | 2015 | 2015-12 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | www.mccaskill.senate.gov | legacy | FAST designed to speed permit process for businesses Tuesday, December 15, 2015 By: Jack Miles Washington Sen.Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, worked in bipartisan accord with Sen.Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to pass a law that cuts red tape responsible for stifling major developments in Missouri and nationally, state and national leaders said. The new Federal Permitting Improvement Act fixes a broken permitting process,Bruce Josten, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president for government affairs, said. The new streamlining law (will) speed up the review and the approval of permitting for significant infrastructure, and manufacturing products, across the country, Josten said. All of which has the potential for investment, development and growth for our economy. There really is no excuse for a bureaucratic nightmare when we are trying to invest in infrastructure in this country, and it has gotten to the point that it was impossible for large projects to move in a timely basis, which means they cost more money, and we all pay for that ultimately that price tag is passed along, McCaskill said. Bill Kovacs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs, explained the value of passing FAST, the first major amendment of the 1969 environmental review process. Its literally brilliant in its simplicity putting time frames in a management structure around an extraordinarily complex environmental review process, he said. This is the first time its applied to both public and private infrastructure projects costing over $200 million. Projects include energy pipelines, aviation, manufacturing and broadband. This is literally across the entire economy, Kovacs said. The past permit process that could take a decade or more hampered interest in development, he said. The mechanics are simple, Kovacs said: A director coordinates the process, a projects inventory is created, a schedule is set for each project, the executive assures time frames are met, the dispute resolution process is quick, the public will know what occurs at every step and those who want to sue regarding a project have two years versus the present six. Reducing the lawsuit time frame is important, he said. That is a huge, huge improvement, because right now you can go four, five, six, 10, 15 years on a project and then, if someones going to sue you, they have an additional six years, putting tremendous uncertainty on the project, Kovacs said. The World Bank ranks the United States a low 41st worldwide in Dealing with Construction Permits. Daniel Mehan, president and chief executive officer of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the bill marks progress. This means a real breath of fresh air for infrastructure around the country, Mehan said, adding Missouri is known for having infrastructure that is key to the nation. Weve got a cross-section of pipelines, roads, rails with the second-, third-largest rail hubs in the country and sixth-longest highway system. McCaskill added the states river system to infrastructure mix because waterways are used to move goods through locks and dams to markets a vital point important on the east side of the state where the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The west side of the state also stands to benefit from easing federal permitting regulations. If you look at anything big that has to be built, whether its at Whiteman or whether its in Kansas City, anything that would reach that initial investment of $200 million, this is going to apply, she said. Bruce Josten, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president for government affairs, said a few years ago a chamber study and found 351 permit-delayed infrastructure projects had a combined investment value of about $750 billion. They were being held up by environmental organizations suing, he said. Josten said McCaskill worked tirelessly to move the bill through the committee process to reach the point of passage. To win approval, the bill had to get through questions raised by the environmental, labor and business communities, and the White House. The bill received support from groups including the U.S. and Missouri chambers of commerce, Associated General Contractors of Missouri, American Soybean Association and Obama, who signed the measure into law. The Sierra Club is among groups that opposed FAST, stating in March, The legislation would also undercut public participation and environmental review, making it far more difficult for the public to raise legitimate concerns about thousands of federal projects that could potentially have significant environmental, public health, economic and other impacts. It would also greatly restrict the publics access to the courts to block unwise, wasteful, or environmentally damaging projects. Senator McCaskills personal leadership and her efforts to shepherd this through in a bipartisan way made it all possible, to be blunt, Josten said. She and her staff have been there and involved on this issue from the beginning with us. She led the legislation in the last Congress and she led it in this Congress. Bipartisanship helps the nation, McCaskill said. Its possible that we could do more of this in Washington if everyone would stop standing on opposite sides of the room yelling at each other and try to figure out more ways that we can embrace common sense and do something like this, she said. I believe this will save everyone a lot of money and a lot of hassle. Josten said the U.S. Chamber supports people who work together for the common good. We have been leading an effort to try and identify/recruit candidates (who) want to come to Washington to govern responsibly, not come to Washington to simply blow everything up, he said. The challenge for the American public that I think at times is attracted to rhetoric that is fury We need to stop and move away from divisive rhetoric. By definition, this town operates when you have bipartisan approaches and compromise. Compromise is baked into the entire system, and when you have divided government, which is what we have right now youre going to have to have people like Senator McCaskill and like Senator Portman that reach across the aisle. Print Email Tweet | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |