The Economic Benefits of Permitting Reform

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has estimated the economic benefits of permitting reform. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) acts as an umbrella for environmental review, requiring agencies to evaluate environmental impacts before projects can proceed. Impacted projects include both direct federal actions and private projects requiring federal permits. An environmental impact statement (EIS) typically catalogs the other federal permits that must be obtained – under laws such as the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Historic Preservation Act – for the project to proceed. EISs published in recent years have averaged roughly 1,700 pages including appendixes, and agencies took on average 4.2 years to complete them.