Streamlining Government Permitting and Reducing Unnecessary Regulations on the Domestic Manufacturing Industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, October 6, 2017

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Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross released the Streamlining Permitting and Regulatory Burdens for American Manufacturers report that was submitted to President Donald Trump. This report, which gathered input from domestic manufacturers and industry stakeholders, identified 20 sets of regulations and permitting issues as being a top priority for reform and immediate action to begin unleashing of the domestic manufacturing industry.

“The current onerous and lengthy processes and inadequately designed rules add to an already overwhelming amount of government waste.” said Secretary Ross “This report is an important step in correcting the status quo and promoting, instead of shackling, American manufacturing.”

Three major themes were identified by domestic manufacturers and industry stakeholders in the report: overlap, duplication and lack of coordination between states and the Environmental Protection Agency; uncertainty related to the permitting process; and inconsistency in application and enforcement.

As recommended in the report, each agency’s Regulatory Reform Taskforce will review all relevant detailed comments received in response to the Department’s Request for Information, deliver an “action plan” to the administration not later than January 31, 2018, and, for the first year, agency leadership will provide regular updates to the President on the status of their efforts.

The Department of Commerce also recommends working with members of Congress to expand the definition of projects that qualify as “covered projects” under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) to include: “projects the construction of which will result in a significant, immediate economic benefit to the United States.” Covered projects will typically enjoy better coordination, transparency of approvals, and expedited permitting. The report also calls for Congress to incorporate procedures similar to those found in FAST-41 in other legislation applicable to manufacturing projects. Expansion within the FAST Act, or legislation modeled similarly to the FAST Act, will speed important economically significant manufacturing projects to market.

Commerce will also hold an annual forum with Manufacturers to assess progress made in the area of regulatory reforms.

This report executes President Trump’s memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce to ask stakeholders for ways to streamline the construction permitting process and to reduce the regulatory burdens for domestic manufacturing.

This report and the recommended action is just one piece of a historic whole-of-government regulatory reform agenda that President Trump launched, and is already removing roadblocks to American job creation.

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