Federal Retirements Could Affect Permitting Process, NTIA Official Warns

“Since January, many of the federal permitting agencies have lost a lot of staff,” she said. Agencies “are trying to reapportion people and figure that out.” She highlighted work that NTIA has done since before the start of the administration to streamline NTIA environmental and historic review requirements. But despite any efforts to cut red tape, there's still paperwork involved for permits, she added.

Springer said she has divided her work into three “buckets,” starting with rules “most directly under NTIA’s control.” NTIA has also been “doing a lot” to coordinate with other federal agencies, including numerous memorandums of understanding put in place to allow NTIA to be the lead agency on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, she said. The agency has been working with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council to ensure that there’s enough staff for reviews “and that they run smoothly.” The third and most difficult area to address, though, is local and state permitting “beyond our jurisdiction,” she said.

The federal government has established new categorical exclusions for environmental reviews, Springer said, noting that 10 years ago, the Commerce Department administered the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program with only 11 categorical exclusions. Thirty have been added since, she said. “Our focus was really to right-size these environmental reviews,” since most broadband projects have little effect on the environment. NTIA is also testing the use of AI to determine when a project can be excluded from review, she added.

The two areas that often take the longest are reviews under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, so the administration is working on both, she said.

In addition, NTIA did a legal review of the BEAD program and how it differed from other programs that the agency has run, Springer said. “We were able to develop a path forward, where NTIA is working with states and territories as joint lead agencies for NEPA.” BEAD isn’t unique as a program that gives large amounts of money to the states, and there’s a model for that in areas like federal highway funding, she noted. Similarly, states and territories are being required to develop “NEPA capacity” so they can supervise and review applications for BEAD support, she said. NTIA will still have to review what it expects will be “tens of thousands” of NEPA decisions.

Permitting is “inherently local,” said Michael Saperstein, chief strategy officer for the Wireless Infrastructure Association. Anytime a company installs a tower or a small cell, it’s “going to be physically occupying a space, and people around that space want to know what’s going on. How should it be sited?” he asked. WIA “absolutely believes that permitting has an important role,” but the process must be “predictable, proportionate and transparent,” he said.

WIA welcomes what NTIA is doing on permitting under BEAD and “would love to see that expanded into many different areas,” Saperstein added. Policymakers should get the best permitting processes in place and then use them “for years to come.” AI won’t work without strong wireless connections, and wireless devices “are kind of like the nervous system for AI,” he said. “AI is built on data,” and nothing consumes and sends more data than a mobile device “at the end of the network.”

Saperstein also said the FCC is looking at whether some of the environmental and historic reviews required by the government remain necessary, at least for wireless. Industry has worked well with officials enforcing NEPA and NHPA rules, but “that’s not to say there aren’t improvements that can be made.” Many states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, have their own laws requiring environmental reviews as well, he said. “There are multiple layers here that we’re dealing with at any one time.”