[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50418-50420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23686]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OA-2017-0600; FRL-9968-25-OA]


Fast-41 Best Practices: Delegated State Permitting Programs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: On January 18, 2017, the Federal Permitting Improvement 
Steering Council, published Recommended Best Practices for 
Environmental Reviews and Authorizations for Infrastructure Projects, 
available at https://www.permits.performance.gov. In accordance with 
Section 41006 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-
41), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public 
comment. Specifically, EPA is seeking feedback on whether any of the 
best practices are generally applicable on a delegation or 
authorization-wide basis to permitting under FAST-41.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 20, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments and additional materials, identified by 
docket EPA-HQ-OA-2017-0600 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public 
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, 
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written 
comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not 
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Gentile, Office of Policy, Mail 
Code 1104-A, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-3158; email 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FAST-41 seeks to enhance coordination and 
transparency of Federal environmental reviews and authorizations 
required prior to construction of covered infrastructure projects. This 
statute applies specifically to authorizations and environmental 
reviews which are led by and/or issued by a Federal agency. However, 
states may choose to participate in the environmental review and 
authorization process under FAST-41. This statute only applies to 
``covered projects'' which 42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)(A) defines as:

    The term ``covered project'' means any activity in the United 
States that requires authorization or environmental review by a 
Federal agency involving construction of infrastructure for 
renewable or conventional energy production, electricity 
transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, 
water resource projects, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, or any 
other sector as determined by a majority vote of the Council that--
    (i)(I) is subject to NEPA;
    (II) is likely to require a total investment of more than 
$200,000,000; and
    (III) does not qualify for abbreviated authorization or 
environmental review processes under any applicable law; or
    (ii) is subject to NEPA and the size and complexity of which, in 
the opinion of the Council, make the project likely to benefit from 
enhanced oversight and coordination, including a project likely to 
require--
    (I) authorization from or environmental review involving more 
than 2 Federal agencies; or
    (II) the preparation of an environmental impact statement under 
NEPA.

    FAST-41 required the establishment of the Federal Permitting 
Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) which is a council that includes a 
chair and then representatives of certain Federal agencies, the 
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget. Council agencies include agencies 
that may be involved in authorization or environmental review of a 
covered project. The EPA is one such agency and is represented on the 
FPISC. Pursuant to FAST-41, the FPISC is charged with issuing 
recommendations on best practices to support the goals of FAST-41. See, 
e.g., 42 U.S.C. 4370m-1(c)(2)(B). In essence, the best practices are 
aimed at streamlining and improving the process by which the Federal 
government undertakes environmental reviews and authorizations for 
covered projects.
    States may voluntarily choose to participate in the FAST-41 process 
and make subject to the process all State agencies that have 
jurisdiction, are required to undertake a review or analysis, or are 
required to make a determination on issuing a permit, license or other 
approval for a covered project.

Current Request for Comment

    On January 18, 2017, the FPISC published a document titled, 
Recommended Best Practices for Environmental Reviews and Authorizations 
for Infrastructure Projects, which is available online at https://www.permits.performance.gov. This document identifies best practices 
consistent with the FAST-41 guidelines described in 42 U.S.C. 4370m-
1(c)(2)(B). Specifically, these best practices regard:

42 U.S.C. 4370m-1(c)(2)(B)

    ``(i) enhancing early stakeholder engagement, including fully 
considering and, as appropriate, incorporating recommendations provided 
in public comments on any proposed covered project;
    (ii) ensuring timely decisions regarding environmental reviews and 
authorizations, including through the development of performance 
metrics;
    (iii) improving coordination between Federal and non-Federal 
governmental entities, including through the development of common data 
standards and terminology across agencies;
    (iv) increasing transparency;
    (v) reducing information collection requirements and other 
administrative burdens on agencies, project sponsors, and other 
interested parties;
    (vi) developing and making available to applicants appropriate 
geographic information systems and other tools;
    (vii) creating and distributing training materials useful to 
Federal, State, tribal, and local permitting officials; and
    (viii) addressing other aspects of infrastructure permitting, as 
determined by the Council.''

42 U.S.C. 4370m-1(c)(2)(B)

    Under a number of federal environmental laws, the EPA delegates, 
approves, or authorizes state governments to issue permits or other 
authorizations under these laws. The EPA has already taken a number of 
steps related to best practices for delegated and authorized state 
permitting programs. These include establishing minimum program 
requirements for authorized and delegated programs consistent with the 
underlying statutory obligations.
    In addition, the EPA regularly communicates with delegated and 
authorized programs regarding program implementation and oversight. One 
example of this is that in 2016, the EPA initiated an agency-wide 
effort, with the consultation and collaboration of stakeholder 
associations throughout, to articulate a common set of principles and 
best practices for promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of 
delegated, authorized, and approved state permitting programs. On 
August

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30, 2016, the EPA formally transmitted the final principles and best 
practices for permitting to the Environmental Council of the States. 
See Promoting Environmental Program Health and Integrity: Principles 
and Best Practices for Oversight of State Permitting Programs, 
available online at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-10/documents/principles_and_best_practices_for_oversight_of_state_permitting_programs.pdf. These best practices and principles dovetail with the FPISC's 
best practices.

42 U.S.C. 4370m-5(a)(1)

    Consistent with the EPA's obligation under 42 U.S.C. 4370m-5(a)(1), 
the EPA is now seeking public comment to determine whether and the 
extent to which any of the best practices identified by the FPISC are 
generally applicable on a delegation- or authorization-wide basis to 
permitting under FAST-41. This document satisfies EPA's obligation 
under FAST-41 to solicit public participation on the FPISC best 
practices.

    Authority:  Public Law 114-94, div. D, title XLI, sec. 
41006(a)(1), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1758.
    Dated: October 25, 2017.

Samantha K. Dravis,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-23686 Filed 10-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P