The Expedited National Reconstruction Permitting Act of 2023

Abstract

This bill complements the author's National Development Strategy and Coordination Act of 2022, now before the House and Senate of the US Congress. It does so by vesting in the National Reconstruction and Development Council, instituted by that Act, with exclusive permitting authority for projects the Council deems crucial to national redevelopment. In so doing, the bill aims solely to eliminate duplicative and sometimes contradictory requirements imposed by multiple authorities in the absence of exclusive permitting jurisdiction. The expedited permitting process authorized by the bill accordingly retains requirements of the kind typically imposed by state and local permitting authorities, thereby vindicating the values that such requirements aim to advance, while also adding a bonding requirement in appropriate cases for good measure. Leaving 'substantive' requirements unchanged in this way, the bill simply speeds up the permitting process, by eliminating jurisdictional uncertainties and mandating rapid decision-making. The bill also reaffirms the Council's subjection to APA requirements.

Keywords: Administrative Procedure Act, APA, Building, CHIPS & Science Act, Construction, Development, Environmental Protection, Inflation Reduction Act, National Development Strategy and Coordination Act, National Development, Permitting