GAO says energy infrastructure could benefit from more coordination, staff and changes in policy

A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that reviews of energy infrastructure could have both their timeliness and efficiency bolstered through several re-evaluations of governmental operations.

GAO undertook this assessment with the charge of righting the effects permitting delays have on infrastructure growth. The first and most important find is that greater communication is needed between federal agencies and applicants. Doing so could result in more efficient permitting, the GAO report said. They determined numerous ways this coordination could be helped along, from the designation of a single lead agency funneling federal, state and local efforts on the permitting process, to creating a higher number of coordinating agreements.

Another major factor includes hiring more people to do the work of reviewing applications. A great deal can be achieved through cooperation and streamlining, but staffing challenges have impacted the capabilities of several agencies. GAO would like to see these agencies develop workforce planning standards to fill personnel gaps.

Greater efficiency could also be reached by getting agencies to track the achievement of milestones within an application. Many fail to do so, which strips them of a critical timeline for monitoring efficiencies and deficiencies alike. Incomplete applications are delaying permitting on drilling efforts, while safety requirements established in the last decade also increase permitting time frames.

For their assessments, GAO turned to reports issued between July 2012 and December 2017, as well as relevant federal laws and policies, federally captured data and interviews with officials at all levels of government and industry.

While federal agencies have implemented several of the recommendations GAO has suggested, numerous recommendations remain open, presenting opportunities to continue improving the permitting processes.