Trump pledges to speed permitting for companies investing over $1 billion

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President-elect Donald Trump said his administration would speed the approval of big construction projects for companies that invest more than $1 billion, signaling his intention to push the limits of federal law to boost the economy. In a post on his social-media site, Truth Social, Trump said Tuesday that any person or company investing $1 billion or more in the U.S.

“will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals." Permitting changes have garnered bipartisan support in Washington in recent years. Backers of clean-energy projects have bemoaned the lengthy process to get permits for transmission projects seen as essential to achieve goals to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Oil-and-gas companies have complained it hinders their ability to build infrastructure.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to “drill baby drill" and lower energy costs for Americans by 50%. It isn’t clear whether a U.S. president would have legal authority to bypass permitting and environmental rules.

Efforts to negate or diminish rules such as the Clean Water Act can involve years of court battles that often land at the Supreme Court. “What authority does he have to waive these rules based upon the size of the financial investment?" said Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a consumer-advocacy group. “That doesn’t make any sense." Some federal permitting agencies, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, are independent of executive authority, experts said.