The Biden Administration will host a summit this fall to help cities and states in line for federal infrastructure funds avoid the tangle of red tape that is known to stall American projects. As funds begin to flow from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the government is eyeing ways to manage issues like permitting, community opposition and litigation, which have long driven up the costs and timeline of American infrastructure projects. Those challenges are on top of the current economic hurdles of inflation and a tight labor force…. The summit will focus on improving project delivery and the administration’s permitting action plan and highlight projects that have gone smoothly. The White House has unfurled its own set of red tape with the IIJA, said DJ Gribbin, founder of consulting firm Madrus and former Special Assistant to President Trump for Infrastructure, and one of the panelists at the conference. With 375 different programs, including 125 brand new ones, and new reporting and regulatory requirements for all agencies, the IIJA is a “hot mess,” Gribbin said. “It creates lots of communication but every one of those communications takes time and effort,” Gribbin said. “There’s going to be lots of programs, lots of money, lots of chaos.”
Source: The Bond Buyer
