Rep. Calvert Introduces Bill to Reduce the Cost and Speed up the Construction of Infrastructure Projects
Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41) reintroduced the Reducing Environmental Barriers to Unified Infrastructure and Land Development (REBUILD) Act, H.R. 495, to reduce the cost and speed up the construction of infrastructure projects while maintaining strong environmental protections.
“One of the reasons we are constantly behind on building the infrastructure we need is the increased cost and wasted time spent complying with duplicative regulations,” said Rep. Calvert. “The REBUILD Act can help us build the infrastructure we need faster and at a lower cost without compromising environmental protections. At a time when our federal budget is constrained, we should look for opportunities, like the REBUILD Act, that allow taxpayer funding to go further by reducing the cost to make projects a reality.”
The REBUILD Act allows any state to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with a designated federal agency that has environmental review responsibilities under NEPA and assume the review responsibilities of that agency. Under the REBUILD Act, states would still be required to uphold the same NEPA standards or greater. By assuming these responsibilities states could integrate NEPA compliance into their own state approval processes, thereby streamlining construction timelines and eliminating the need for redundant reviews at the federal level, all while upholding high standards of environmental stewardship.
The streamlined process is modeled after a pilot program created in SAFETEA-LU (Section 327 - Title 23 USC) that allowed a limited number of states to take on the task of ensuring National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for highway projects under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In those states that chose to assume this responsibility, the length of time to complete a project review was reduced by an average of 17 months while also ensuring the goals of the NEPA process were not compromised.
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