ePermit Act
The ePermit Act would overhaul how environmental reviews and authorizations are conducted by moving to a digitized, cloud-based, interagency platform. It sets out a framework for standardized data across federal agencies, develops prototype tools for case management and submission portals, and creates a unified interagency data system including a central authorization portal. The goal is to improve coordination among federal, state, and local agencies and project sponsors, increase transparency and community engagement, speed up processing times, and enable real-time oversight. The bill authorizes funding for pilot and implementation efforts, requires agencies to assess and adopt the standards and tools, and provides guidance and governance (through CEQ and related councils) to implement these digital improvements while preserving NEPA and other laws. In short, if enacted, federal environmental reviews would increasingly rely on standardized data, automated workflows, geospatial tools, and public-facing portals to track timelines, submissions, and decisions. The approach emphasizes transparency, accountability, and efficiency, with Congress retaining oversight through an accessible portal and regular progress reporting.
Key Points
- 1Data standards and interoperability: Establishes federal data standards within 180 days to standardize concepts like projects, processes, environmental documents, public comments, geospatial information, and milestones, enabling automatic data exchange and reducing duplicative reviews.
- 2Prototype tools for modernization: Funds and prioritizes developing tools for case management, sponsor submission portals, automated applications and reviews, data exchange between agency systems, and acceleration of complex environmental reviews.
- 3Guidance and minimum functional requirements: Requires CEQ to publish guidance within 30 days on implementing data standards and minimum functional requirements, including automated data sharing, automated screening, GIS integration, document and administrative record management, AI-assisted comment analysis, and interoperable federal services.
- 4Unified interagency data system and portal: Promotes a centralized, cloud-based authorization portal that tracks real-time data from agency systems, supports interactive features (GIS displays, 3D renderings, geospatial data submissions), enables public access to non-sensitive data, and provides Congress with aggregated performance data for oversight.
- 5Implementation and oversight: Agencies must, within 90 days, compare current systems to the standards and requirements and submit an implementation plan with timelines; begin implementing within 180 days. The Act calls for annual progress reports to Congress and a shared-services pilot within one year, with a unified system targeted by December 1, 2027. It also authorizes annual funding of $1 million (FY2026–FY2032) for implementation and related activities.