Widespread economic devastation in Florida and Houston from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey have put major attention on the Federal permit process. Federal permitting is governed by multiple laws (the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act) and without changes to these, there is a limit to how much latitude Federal officials have in issuing permits for major development projects. But some actions can be taken to facilitate permit action.
Lt. Gen. (ret) Bob Flowers, who joined us in 2013 after serving as 50th Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, was on FOX News Tuesday to offer perspective on this issue. Bob has been speaking a lot about reforming Corps of Engineers permitting policies and his suggestions, including appointing a single Federal official to be a “traffic cop” to facilitate approvals, are especially timely.
To see Bob’s segment, please click here.
Bob also had an opinion piece in Thursday’s Washington Times on federal permitting and the Corps of Engineers. Having overseen Corps permitting approvals for years, Bob explains what can be done to help accelerate a permit approval process.
For Bob’s Washington Times article, click here.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dawson & Associates.