Presidential Documents

18887 

Federal Register 

Vol. 77, No. 60 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 

Title 3— 

The President 

Executive Order 13604 of March 22, 2012 

Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of 

Infrastructure Projects 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, and in order to significantly reduce 

the aggregate time required to make decisions in the permitting and review 

of infrastructure projects by the Federal Government, while improving environmental and community outcomes, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

Section 1. Policy. (a) To maintain our Nation’s competitive edge and ensure 

an economy built to last, the United States must have fast, reliable, resilient, 

and environmentally sound means of moving people, goods, energy, and 

information. In a global economy, we will compete for the world’s investments based in significant part on the quality of our infrastructure. Investing 

in the Nation’s infrastructure provides immediate and long-term economic 

benefits for local communities and the Nation as a whole. 

The quality of our Nation’s infrastructure depends in critical part on Federal 

permitting and review processes, including planning, approval, and consultation processes. These processes inform decision-makers and affected communities about the potential benefits and impacts of proposed infrastructure 

projects, and ensure that projects are designed, built, and maintained in 

a manner that is consistent with protecting our public health, welfare, safety, 

national security, and environment. Reviews and approvals of infrastructure 

projects can be delayed due to many factors beyond the control of the 

Federal Government, such as poor project design, incomplete applications, 

uncertain funding, or multiple reviews and approvals by State, local, tribal, 

or other jurisdictions. Given these factors, it is critical that executive departments and agencies (agencies) take all steps within their authority, consistent 

with available resources, to execute Federal permitting and review processes 

with maximum efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring the health, safety, and 

security of communities and the environment while supporting vital economic growth. 

To achieve that objective, our Federal permitting and review processes must 

provide a transparent, consistent, and predictable path for both project sponsors and affected communities. They must ensure that agencies set and 

adhere to timelines and schedules for completion of reviews, set clear permitting performance goals, and track progress against those goals. They must 

encourage early collaboration among agencies, project sponsors, and affected 

stakeholders in order to incorporate and address their interests and minimize 

delays. They must provide for transparency and accountability by utilizing 

cost-effective information technology to collect and disseminate information 

about individual projects and agency performance, so that the priorities 

and concerns of all our citizens are considered. They must rely upon early 

and active consultation with State, local, and tribal governments to avoid 

conflicts or duplication of effort, resolve concerns, and allow for concurrent 

rather than sequential reviews. They must recognize the critical role project 

sponsors play in assuring the timely and cost-effective review of projects 

by providing complete information and analysis and by supporting, as appropriate, the costs associated with review. And, they must enable agencies 

to share priorities, work collaboratively and concurrently to advance reviews 

and permitting decisions, and facilitate the resolution of disputes at all 

levels of agency organization. 


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Each of these elements must be incorporated into routine agency practice 

to provide demonstrable improvements in the performance of Federal infrastructure permitting and review processes, including lower costs, more timely 

decisions, and a healthier and cleaner environment. Also, these elements 

must be integrated into project planning processes so that projects are designed appropriately to avoid, to the extent practicable, adverse impacts 

on public health, security, historic properties and other cultural resources, 

and the environment, and to minimize or mitigate impacts that may occur. 

Permitting and review process improvements that have proven effective 

must be expanded and institutionalized. 

(b) In advancing this policy, this order expands upon efforts undertaken 

pursuant to Executive Order 13580 of July 12, 2011 (Interagency Working 

Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting 

in Alaska), Executive Order 13563 of January 18, 2011 (Improving Regulation 

and Regulatory Review), and my memorandum of August 31, 2011 (Speeding 

Infrastructure Development Through More Efficient and Effective Permitting 

and Environmental Review), as well as other ongoing efforts. 

Sec. 2. Steering Committee on Federal Infrastructure Permitting and Review 

Process Improvement. There is established a Steering Committee on Federal 

Infrastructure Permitting and Review Process Improvement (Steering Committee), to be chaired by the Chief Performance Officer (CPO), in consultation 

with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 

(a) Infrastructure Projects Covered by this Order. The Steering Committee 

shall facilitate improvements in Federal permitting and review processes 

for infrastructure projects in sectors including surface transportation, aviation, 

ports and waterways, water resource projects, renewable energy generation, 

electricity transmission, broadband, pipelines, and other such sectors as 

determined by the Steering Committee. 

(b) Membership. Each of the following agencies (Member Agencies) shall 

be represented on the Steering Committee by a Deputy Secretary or equivalent 

officer of the United States: 

(i) the Department of Defense; 

(ii) the Department of the Interior; 

(iii) the Department of Agriculture; 

(iv) the Department of Commerce; 

(v) the Department of Transportation; 

(vi) the Department of Energy; 

(vii) the Department of Homeland Security; 

(viii) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

(ix) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; 

(x) the Department of the Army; and 

(xi) such other agencies or offices as the CPO may invite to participate. 

(c) Projects of National or Regional Significance. In furtherance of the 

policies of this order, the Member Agencies shall coordinate and consult 

with each other to select, submit to the CPO by April 30, 2012, and periodically update thereafter, a list of infrastructure projects of national or regional 

significance that will have their status tracked on the online Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard (Dashboard) created pursuant to my memorandum of August 31, 2011. 

(d) Responsibilities of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee 

shall: 

(i) develop a Federal Permitting and Review Performance Plan (Federal 

Plan), as described in section 3(a) of this order; 

(ii) implement the Federal Plan and coordinate resolution of disputes 

among Member Agencies relating to implementation of the Federal Plan; 

and 


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(iii) coordinate and consult with other agencies, offices, and interagency 

working groups as necessary, including the President’s Management Council and Performance Improvement Councils, and, with regard to use and 

expansion of the Dashboard, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief 

Technology Officer to implement this order. 

(e) Duties of the CPO. The CPO shall: 

(i) in consultation with the Chair of CEQ and Member Agencies, issue 

guidance on the implementation of this order; 

(ii) in consultation with Member Agencies, develop and track performance 

metrics for evaluating implementation of the Federal Plan and Agency 

Plans; and 

(iii) by January 31, 2013, and annually thereafter, after input from interested 

agencies, evaluate and report to the President on the implementation 

of the Federal Plan and Agency Plans, and publish the report on the 

Dashboard. 

(f) No Involvement in Particular Permits or Projects. Neither the Steering 

Committee, nor the CPO, may direct or coordinate agency decisions with 

respect to any particular permit or project. 

Sec. 3. Plans for Measurable Performance Improvement. (a) By May 31, 

2012, the Steering Committee shall, following coordination with Member 

Agencies and other interested agencies, develop and publish on the Dashboard a Federal Plan to significantly reduce the aggregate time required 

to make Federal permitting and review decisions on infrastructure projects 

while improving outcomes for communities and the environment. The Federal Plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following actions to 

implement the policies outlined in section 1 of this order, and shall reflect 

the agreement of any Member Agency with respect to requirements in the 

Federal Plan affecting such agency: 

(i) institutionalizing best practices for: enhancing Federal, State, local, 

and tribal government coordination on permitting and review processes 

(such as conducting reviews concurrently rather than sequentially to the 

extent practicable); avoiding duplicative reviews; and engaging with stakeholders early in the permitting process; 

(ii) developing mechanisms to better communicate priorities and resolve 

disputes among agencies at the national and regional levels; 

(iii) institutionalizing use of the Dashboard, working with the CIO to 

enhance the Dashboard, and utilizing other cost-effective information technology systems to share environmental and project-related information 

with the public, project sponsors, and permit reviewers; and 

(iv) identifying timeframes and Member Agency responsibilities for the 

implementation of each proposed action. 

(b) Each Member Agency shall: 

(i) by June 30, 2012, submit to the CPO an Agency Plan identifying 

those permitting and review processes the Member Agency views as most 

critical to significantly reducing the aggregate time required to make permitting and review decisions on infrastructure projects while improving outcomes for communities and the environment, and describing specific and 

measurable actions the agency will take to improve these processes, including: 

(1) performance metrics, including timelines or schedules for review; 

(2) technological improvements, such as institutionalized use of the 

Dashboard and other information technology systems; 

(3) other practices, such as pre-application procedures, early collaboration with other agencies, project sponsors, and affected stakeholders, and 

coordination with State, local, and tribal governments; and 

(4) steps the Member Agency will take to implement the Federal Plan. 


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(ii) by July 31, 2012, following coordination with other Member Agencies 

and interested agencies, publish its Agency Plan on the Dashboard; and 

(iii) by December 31, 2012, and every 6 months thereafter, report progress 

to the CPO on implementing its Agency Plan, as well as specific opportunities for additional improvements to its permitting and review procedures. 

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed 

to impair or otherwise affect: 

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or 

the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with Executive Order 13175 

of November 6, 2000 (Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments) and my memorandum of November 5, 2009 (Tribal Consultation). 

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 

party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

March 22, 2012. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7636 

Filed 3–27–12; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F2–P 


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