The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) announced a new, “first-of-its-kind” Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA).
The MOU establishes a working relationship between the Permitting Council and RETA in order to provide federal permitting support to RETA-supported projects that also qualify for coverage under the Permitting Council’s FAST-41 program. This new state-federal partnership will bring the tools and resources of the FAST-41 permitting assistance program to projects in New Mexico.
“The Permitting Council is excited to begin this new chapter of our relationship with New Mexico’s RETA as we work together to identify projects that could truly benefit from the FAST-41 permitting assistance program,” said Eric Beightel, Permitting Council Executive Director. “By bringing the vast tools of our program to the environmental review and authorization of infrastructure projects in the state of New Mexico, we know that we can realize a marked improvement in getting outstanding projects from the starting line to the finish with efficiency and effectiveness baked into every step of the process.”
The Permitting Council will bring the FAST-41 permitting assistance program to eligible RETA projects, which is meant to ensure an accountable federal environmental review and authorization process for those project sponsors that choose to join the FAST-41 program. Under the MOU, the Permitting Council will work with RETA on various aspects of the review process, including
Helping RETA to determine the FAST-41 eligibility of projects in RETA’s portfolio and providing ongoing support as RETA identifies new projects that may be eligible for permitting assistance;
Engaging with developers of projects in RETA’s portfolio to provide FAST-41 briefings as requested, Coordinating with RETA to develop a FAST-41 Initiation Notice template that will support an efficient application process for developers of projects in RETA’s portfolio
Providing dedicated Permitting Council staff contacts for each covered project in RETA’s portfolio and supporting regular coordination calls with the project sponsor and the participating agencies for the project; and Convening, as appropriate, federal agencies with equities in RETA projects covered under FAST-41 to support timely issue identification, resolution, and efficient and effective environmental review and permitting of covered projects.
“RETA has been working on ways of expediting and streamlining the permitting process for several years,” said Robert Busch, RETA Board Chair. “This MOU with the Permitting Council is the next logical step in that effort. We look forward to finding ways of efficiently coordinating the federal and state permitting processes.”
