Permitting Council Expands FAST-41 Transparency Dashboard Beyond Mining for the First Time in Agency History

WASHINGTON (October 1, 2026) – The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) is pleased to announce the latest projects to be posted to the FAST-41 Dashboard under the Executive Director’s transparency authority-–the Taylor Shellfish Project and Project Meadowlark. To date, the FAST-41 transparency authority has been used exclusively to support mining projects. The addition of these projects marks the first time that the authority has been used to support additional industries.

“Strengthening American fertilizer manufacturing and seafood production is essential to advancing supply chain resilience and American competitiveness,” said Emily Domenech, Permitting Council Executive Director. “By providing greater transparency and predictability in the permitting process for Project Meadowlark and the Taylor Shellfish Project, the Permitting Council is advancing projects that support critical domestic industries. I am proud to use the Council’s transparency authority to help move these important projects forward and deliver on President Trump’s agenda.”

“Meadowlark’s designation as a FAST-41 Transparency project will provide greater transparency to the Gothenburg community during construction,” said Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE). “This is a great effort to keep Nebraskans involved and projects on time.”

"This is welcome news for the Meadowlark Fertilizer Development project, the community of Gothenburg, and Nebraska's agriculture industry,” said Rep. Adrian Smith (NE-03). “With increased inputs, this project will help advance President Trump’s Farmer First agenda, strengthen our domestic fertilizer supply chain, and support Nebraska’s producers. I am eager to see this project advance through the permitting process and look forward to working with the administration to expand the production of American-made inputs while creating new opportunities for Nebraskans.”

"A schedule you can see is a schedule you can trust,” said Joshua Westling, Founder and CEO of J. Westling & Co. “The transparency and predictability that FAST-41 brings to the federal review process are worth real money on a project of this scale, and we are proud to develop Meadowlark in full public view on the Permitting Council's dashboard. This project will put American-made fertilizer in the hands of farmers across the Corn Belt. We are grateful to the Permitting Council and the many federal, state, and local partners helping us move Meadowlark forward."

“Taylor Shellfish is excited about the opportunity to work within the FAST-41 framework as it moves forward with its Habitat Conservation Plan,” said Bill Taylor, Vice President of Taylor Shellfish Farms. “The collaborative structure that FAST-41 provides will help ensure that Taylor is able to timely develop a plan that supports both the long-term sustainability of the company’s operations and the recovery of the sensitive species that depend on the marine environments where it farms.”

Project Meadowlark: Located in Gothenburg, Nebraska, Project Meadowlark is the first manufacturing project added to the FAST-41 Transparency dashboard. The project is a fully integrated domestic fertilizer complex representing more than $1 billion in total project investment. An agricultural hub, Nebraska’s need for nitrogen fertilizer outpaces local production, necessitating the import of most liquid fertilizer or its components from foreign markets. Local farmers are left vulnerable to supply chain shifts and geopolitical disruptions that impact both business growth and the prices paid by American consumers. This project works to provide Nebraska’s farmers a reliable, homegrown supply of liquid fertilizer, ensuring Nebraska’s farmers remain competitive and America’s food supply remains secure.

• Project Sponsor: J Westling & Co.

• Lead Federal Permitting Agency: Department of Energy

Taylor Shellfish Project: Located in Shelton, Washington, Taylor Shellfish is the largest producer of farmed shellfish in North America. The company is pursuing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for its shellfish farming operations throughout Washington State. Taylor’s operations in Washington currently have ESA coverage under a programmatic consultation for shellfish activities completed in 2016; however, the company is planning new activities that are not included in their current programmatic consultation, including the installation or relocation of certain structures in Pierce County and new rafts or platforms at one of Taylor’s floating farms in Thurston County. 

The designation of this project as a FAST-41 Transparency Project demonstrates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) commitment to the FAST-41 process. NOAA is working with the Permitting Council to advance President Trump’s Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness to reduce regulatory burdens, address unfair trade practices, and ensure the integrity of the seafood supply chain. 

• Project Sponsor: Taylor Shellfish

• Lead Federal Permitting Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - National Marine Fisheries Service

Learn more about each of these projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard (Taylor Shellfish / Project Meadowlark). 

About the Permitting Council and FAST-41

Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) is a federal agency charged with improving the transparency and predictability of the federal environmental review and authorization process for certain critical infrastructure projects. The Permitting Council is composed of the Permitting Council Executive Director, who serves as the Council Chair; 13 federal agency Council members; and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of the Executive Director coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage, which are in turn entitled to comprehensive permitting timetables and transparent, collaborative management of those timetables on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. 

Transparency Projects are infrastructure projects that the Permitting Council's Executive Director selects for posting on the public Federal Permitting Dashboard, where anyone can follow the project's federal reviews and track its progress toward key decisions. Opening that process to public view is central to the Permitting Council's mission to make federal permitting more transparent, predictable, and accountable for project sponsors, communities, and taxpayers.

Learn more about the Permitting Council at permitting.gov.

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