AFP: Biden Reg Moves At Odds With Infrastructure Goals

Nov 22, 2021 by AFP

Arlington, Va. – Rules being written by the Biden administration would do drastic harm to the way our country does infrastructure, putting it fundamentally at odds with the administration’s legislative agenda, the grassroots group American for Prosperity said in public comments submitted to the administration today.

The group said regulatory changes currently being drafted by the White House will delay infrastructure projects and make them more costly for taxpayers—outcomes that are directly contrary to the stated goals of the “Build Back Better” act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

For example: depending on their size, federally supported highway projects could be delayed as long as a decade with an added cost of between $87K and $1.3M per month, according to academic and industry studies.

“This proposed rule … erects and magnifies unnecessary and decades-old federal red tape,” the letter reads. “President Biden’s agenda will delay and increase the cost of building roads, bridges, and new energy development and ultimately cost Americans.”

Specifically at issue is White House Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed rulemaking on the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), first enacted in 1971. It is intended to walk back the 2020 NEPA Modernization Regulation advanced by the prior administration, which would have cut federal delays in approving infrastructure projects in half.

The comments voice the concerns of activists in all 50 states, and cites the strong opposition of groups representing business interests as well as farmers, ranchers and foresters.

Americans for Prosperity Regulations Policy Analyst Abigale Tardif issued the following statement:

“This administration is contradicting itself at every turn. On the one hand, they say they want to help the economy by modernizing roads, bridges, and power systems. On the other hand, they want to go back to half-century-old regulations that are inapplicable to these times and proven to delay projects and raise costs.”

Click Here for AFP Comments on National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations

Background:

In October, AFP raised alarms about the decision, arguing it would “make it harder, slower, and more expensive to build infrastructure, and is literally the opposite of what we’d need to ‘Build Back Better’.” Click here to read.