Permitting Council Launches First-of-its-Kind Agreement with the State of Alaska to Bring Efficiency to the Permitting of Infrastructure Projects
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2025
Contact:
Brittney Gordon
240-302-4344
News Advisory for Wednesday, August 27, 2025 11:00 AM AKDT
WASHINGTON- On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) will join with the State of Alaska to announce a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) to coordinate federal and state resources to advance the permitting of critical infrastructure projects. The MOU provides for federal permitting assistance through the Permitting Council’s FAST-41 program, as the state and the federal government work together to streamline the permitting process for priority infrastructure projects across Alaska.
Members of the media are invited to join Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy at the MOU signing on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. There will be a Q&A portion of the event–media outlets are also welcome to schedule virtual interviews post-event.
What: Memorandum of Agreement signing
Who: Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy
When: Wednesday, August 27, 2025, 11:00 AM AKDT*
Where: Governor’s Anchorage office (Atwood building) 550 W 7th, Ave., 17th floor., Anchorage, AK 99501
*The MOU signing will be preceded by a press conference featuring Governor Dunleavy accessing the state’s current and future potential for safe and secure resource development. That press conference will begin at 10:30 AM to be followed by the MOU signing.
Journalists outside of the Anchorage area can participate by teleconference by sending an RSVP to grant.robinson@alaska.gov.
The press conference and the MOU signing will be streamed live on Governor Dunleavy’s Facebook page.
About the Permitting Council and FAST-41
Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the 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 comprised of the Permitting Council Executive Director, who serves as the Council Chair; 13 federal agency Council members (including deputy secretary-level designees of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Housing and Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairs of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation); and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Permitting Council coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage. FAST-41 covered projects are entitled to comprehensive permitting timetables and transparent, collaborative management of those timetables on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. FAST-41 covered projects may be in the energy production, electricity transmission, energy storage, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, mining, carbon capture, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage and data management, and cybersecurity sectors.
The Permitting Council also serves as a federal center for permitting excellence, supporting federal efforts to improve infrastructure permitting including and beyond FAST-41 covered projects to the extent authorized by law, including activities that promote or provide for the efficient, timely, and predictable completion of environmental reviews and authorizations for federally-authorized infrastructure projects.
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 26, 2025