President Barack Obama has signed a memorandum that intends to expedite the amount of time the federal government takes to review and approve large-scale infrastructure projects.
The memo comes nearly a year after Obama issued an executive order intended to help the government review and issue permits faster for the projects, according to a White House blog post by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and new Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell.
LaHood and Burwell write agencies have expedited the review and permitting of 50 major projects since Obama issued that order.
Those projects encompass bridges, transit , railways, waterways, roads and renewable energy, according to the blog post.
Obama met with Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari Friday to speed up the approval of Baltimore City’s Red Line rail transit corridor by six months, LaHood and Burwell write.
The memo also includes advice for agencies on how to use information technology tools for collaboration and best practices.
