We can’t let red tape stop us now
Having the money and the political will to build a greener energy grid isn’t enough. We w0n’t be able to cut emissions in half by 2030 if it takes ten years to get permission to start building.
Streamline infrastructure permitting by creating clear lines of authority to resolve disagreements among competing public agencies, to focus environmental review on material impacts, and to expedite review of legal disputes. No decision should take more than two years, and most should be finalized in less than a year. Learn more by reading Common Good’s influential report Two Years, Not Ten Years: Redesigning Infrastructure Approvals and our proposal for streamlining permitting.
VIDEO: What stops us from building green infrastructure? (40 seconds)
Congress should create a nonpartisan National Infrastucture Board
One way to speed things up: Congress should create a nonpartisan National Infrastructure Board, with the charter to maintain an ongoing list of national infrastructure priorities. Setting independent priorities, similar to base-closing commissions, will narrow and expedite political debate. A National Infrastructure Board could also be given responsibility to set guidelines for reasonable contracting policies to avoid featherbedding and other waste of public funds, and to audit finished projects.
VIDEO: Why do we need a National Infrastructure Board? (36 seconds)
Selected recent commentary
Philip K. Howard — “Save Trillions While Approving Infrastructure Package” The Hill
What’s needed to overcome distrust is a nonpartisan oversight body that is empowered to avoid waste and corruption. In other developed countries, most citizens accept official authority. But Americans don’t. Creating a trusted oversight institution means it can’t be in the control of either political party. An example are the nonpartisan “base-closing commissions” which decide which defense bases should be shuttered.
Philip K. Howard — “The Political Infrastructure We Need Now” New York Daily News
The best model to instill trust and confidence in infrastructure spending would be a nonpartisan National Infrastructure Board, comparable to base-closing commissions that make recommendations to Congress on the closing of unnecessary military bases. Australia and other developed countries have created similar bodies to avoid distrust of backroom deals for huge infrastructure investments. A National Infrastructure Board could bring order and reliability to the rebuilding of America’s infrastructure.
Philip K. Howard — “America Needs a National Infrastructure Board” American Infrastructure
Any suggestion by leaders of one party will be reflexively opposed by leaders of the other party. There’s no clear sense of what should get rebuilt, and no political imperative to rationalize the permitting and procurement red tape so that projects can get built in a reasonable timeframe and budget.
What is needed is a credible department that can set priorities, expedite approvals, and avoid pork barrel waste. America needs a National Infrastructure Board, similar to those in other countries.
The New Center — “The Path to a Bipartisan Infrastructure Solution”
Congress should couple new infrastructure with measures to increase the effectiveness of every dollar, including the creation of a National Infrastructure Board .... It could also introduce a program that would incentivize or reward states and localities for streamlining and improving their procurement processes and taking procedural steps that would speed up the delivery of necessary and essential infrastructure projects.
Herb Woerpel — “Fixing America’s Failing Infrastructure” Engineered Systems
While the path to approval is littered with political hurdles, one solution may lie in the creation of a nonpartisan national infrastructure board—an idea touted by the Campaign for Common Good.
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