Trump Empowers States with Massive Permitting Reform in ‘First Step’ to ‘Renewing America’s Roads, Rails, Runways and Rivers’
by MICHELLE MOONS
BreitBart.com
9 Jun 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump wrapped up infrastructure week at the Department of Transportation on Friday, highlighting his moves to reform what the White House called a “burdensome regulatory system that has left American infrastructure crumbling.”
Trump began his visit with a roundtable where state DOT heads described the hindrances that the current permitting process impose on their infrastructure projects. The heads of state Departments of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation leaders, and White House senior officials participated in the discussion along with hosts Transportation Sec. Elaine Chao and Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke.
From the DOT atrium, Trump spoke to members of Congress, representatives of the transportation community, heads of state Departments of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Transportation staff.
Trump spoke of Thursday’s infrastructure summit at the White House which involved Secs. Chao and Zinke. They met with “state and local leaders to develop plans to replace America’s decaying infrastructure and to construct new roads, rails, pipelines, tunnels, and bridges all across our nation.”
The President continued:
We are here today to focus on solving one of the biggest obstacles to creating this new and desperately-needed infrastructure – and that is the painfully slow, costly and time-consuming process for getting permits and approvals to build. And I also knew that from the private sector. It is a long, slow, unnecessarily burdensome process.
My Administration is committed to ending these terrible delays once and for all. The excruciating wait time for permitting has inflicted enormous financial pain on cities and states all throughout our nation – and has blocked many important projects from ever getting off the ground.
Trump added that the Dakota Access Pipeline was “dead 120 days ago and now it officially just opened for business.” He also noted excitement at the labor union representatives from the North American Building Trades Union and the Laborers International Union of North America that were present for the event. “You will play a central role in rebuilding America,” said Trump.
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