Trump proposes changes in environmental regulations to accelerate developmental works

US President Donald Trump on Thursday proposed a series of changes in the existing environmental regulations, saying that the current norms pose big hurdles in carrying out developmental works in the country.Speaking in the Roosevelt room of the White House, Trump said thatin the past many of America's most critical infrastructure projects have been tied up and bogged down by an outrageously slow and burdensome federal approval process.Talking about the endless delays, wastage of money, keeping projects from breaking ground and denying jobs to workers, Trump said that from the day one his administration has made fixing this regulatory nightmare a top priority."We want to build new roads, bridges, tunnels, highways, bigger, better, faster, and we want to build them at less cost. That is why for the first time in over 40 years today we're issuing a proposed new rule under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to completely overhaul the dysfunctional bureaucratic system that has created these massive obstructions, Trump said.The proposed rule titled "Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register on Friday and will have a 60-day comment period.It seeks to reduce paperwork and delays and promote better decision-making, consistent with NEPA's environmental policy.According to the White House, the proposed rule would establish time limits of two years for completion of environmental impact statements and one year for completion of environmental assessments."The proposal specifies page limits, promotes information sharing through modern technology and better defines environmental effects and other key terms, the White House said, adding that it would reduce unnecessary burdens and delays for environmental reviews."Agencies would be allowed to establish procedures for adopting another agency's determinations to increase efficiency. The proposed rule would improve collaboration with State, local, and tribal governments, the White House said.Describing this as a historic move, Trump said that the US will not be able to compete and prosper in the 21st century if it continues to allow a broken and outdated bureaucratic system hold them back from building what they need, the roads, the airports, the schools and everything.Right now it takes over seven years and oftentimes much longer--and seven years is like record time--to complete approvals for a simple highway, the simplest of them. With today's proposed reforms we will reduce that number by more than 70 per cent, he said.We'll cut the federal permitting timeline for major projects down to two years, and ideally we're going to try and get even less than that. we're going to do it fast. We're doing it with a rule change that just is being signed, he asserted.By streamlining infrastructure approvals, he said the administration will further expand America's unprecedented economic boom.That's what we have. We have an economic boom. We've created seven million jobs, including over 700, 000 construction jobs. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over 51 years. After years of stagnation, real wages have increased nearly 10 per cent for low income workers, the biggest beneficiaries, Trump said.Our regulation cuts are giving average American households an extra USD 3,000 per year, and if you look at the tax cuts and all of the other cuts, it's close to USD 10,000 a year with all of the cuts that we're getting. That's for an average median income family, USD 10,000, Trump said.

Trump proposes changes in environmental regulations to accelerate developmental works

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