The head of one of the country’s largest pipeline companies said Tuesday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should be in charge of infrastructure permitting and environmental reviews — and states should be removed from the process.
Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and Republicans’ control of both chambers of Congress mean that infrastructure permitting reform is virtually certain — and to ensure the permitting process is as smooth as possible, FERC should be designated as the entity with ultimate responsibility.
“It needs to be headed by one agency, one primary agency, not multiple agencies,” Armstrong said in an interview with POLITICO, referring to the permitting and environmental review process.
“We need to make sure the entire permitting process is brought under FERC and not left to the states,” Armstrong told an audience at the North America Natural Gas Forum industry conference in Washington, D.C.
