Mining Proposal Raises Questions About Permitting Council

Nearly five years after it was established, the Federal Permit Improvement Steering Council has proposed adding the mining sector to the list of infrastructure sectors covered by Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or FAST-41.

This proposal would enable certain qualified mining projects to take advantage of the federal environmental review, interagency coordination and permitting transparency program that was made available to other infrastructure project proponents under FAST-41. The proposal is open for public comment until Dec. 28.

Based on its review of public comments, the council will decide, by majority vote, whether to exercise its authority for the first time to designate and add a new sector to the FAST-41 statutory list of infrastructure sectors. If a majority of the council vote in favor of including the mining sector, the council will promulgate a final rule that adds mining as a FAST-41 sector.

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