US permitting agency announces funding for permitting improvements

The US Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council on Oct. 11 announced the allocation of nearly $155 million for infrastructure permitting review improvements.

The funds are included in Inflation Reduction Act allocations of $350 million directly to the council and $1 billion total for federal agency permitting activities, the council said.

In addition to having an executive director, the permitting council is composed of representatives from 13 federal agencies and two additional government officials. Several of the agencies represented on the council also received Inflation Reduction Act funding for permitting improvements including hiring personnel, developing environmental documents and supporting equipment purchases for environmental analysts.

The council, created through Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST-41), is charged with improving the transparency and predictability of federal environmental review and authorization processes for certain critical infrastructure projects. FAST-41 also created a new governance structure and set of permitting procedures for such projects, and the council voted in January 2021 to include mining initiatives in the list of covered infrastructure ventures.

Diversified miner South32 Ltd.'s Hermosa zinc-silver project in Arizona was added to the FAST-41 expedited permitting process in May, making it the first mining project to go through FAST-41 procedures.

In September, the permitting council also proposed to designate the full critical minerals supply chain as eligible for FAST-41 permitting review.

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