Permitting reforms needed to speed up transportation improvements, Tennessee contractor tells Congress

Tony Boals, a vice president with Tennessee-based Wright Brothers Construction, called on Congress to make three commonsense reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that could help speed up delivery of transportation improvement projects.

Boals represented the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on federal permitting issues.

“Transportation improvements and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive,” Boals testified. “In fact, their synergy can yield significant benefits such as reduction in traffic, protecting wetlands and waterways, and improved environmentally focused design.”

However, Boals noted that current inefficiencies in the federal permitting process, particularly on transportation projects, can create uncertainty that leads to potential project delays and threats of litigation, all of which translate into increased costs and diluted public resources.

Boals called NEPA “a procedural tool meant to promote harmony between development and the environment” and outlined three specific reforms to bring the law back into balance:

Empower more states to take on NEPA responsibilities by standardizing the application process, making NEPA assignment permanent after an initial audit, and offering more federal resources to cover any associated costs. Eight states—red and blue—have taken on the NEPA assignment. They report millions in annual cost savings, while shaving months off the environmental review process, Boals said.

Properly enforce One Federal Decision (OFD) to ensure lead agencies meet required timelines and page limitations. Despite bipartisan action codifying OFD, the time it takes to complete an Environmental Impact Statement remains double the intended two-year target—and is typically much higher for complex highway projects, he added.

Increase the federal funding threshold for categorical exclusions from $5 million to $10 million to reflect the post-pandemic increase in construction costs.

“With thoughtful, targeted reforms, Congress won’t just improve timelines—it will improve outcomes and help deliver transportation enhancements that communities need,” Boals concluded.