Federal council doles out $155 million to streamline broadband permitting

With Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program buildouts on the horizon, federal agencies are getting an extra hand with the permitting process. The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council unveiled it will allocate nearly $155 million to assist agencies in infrastructure permitting review. For example, the funding will allow agencies to hire permitting experts and acquire “vital tools and resources” so they can review projects in time. Established in 2015, the Permitting Council oversees the FAST 41 program, which is designed to streamline permitting review for sectors such as broadband, renewable energy generation and transmission. The $155 million comes from funding allocated in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, through which the council received a total of $350 million to fund its efforts over the course of nine years. All told, the Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $1 billion total for federal agency permitting activities.