The Obama administration has included three energy projects in a list of 14 infrastructure projects for which it plans to accelerate the permitting and environmental review process as part of a broader effort to create jobs, the White House said Tuesday.
The administration announced the projects after President Barack Obama in August directed agencies to speed environmental reviews and permit decision for a number of "high-priority" infrastructure projects that will create a significant number of jobs, have already identified necessary funding and where the significant steps remaining before construction are within the control and jurisdiction of the federal government and can be completed in 18 months.
While the bulk of the projects deal with transportation and environmental restoration, the White House also included for expedited review the Cleghorn Ridge Wind project in California and the Deerfield Wind Power project in Vermont.
The White House said that under the first, Cleghorn Ridge Wind would build as many as 52 turbines along Cleghorn Ridge in the San Bernardino National Forest. The administration said the US Forest Service, Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration will cooperate to complete their review of the project in as little as 18 months, rather than the three years originally estimated.
Under the second, the White House said the Forest Service is hoping to issued before December a final environmental impact statement for a 30-MW wind farm Deerfield Wind has proposed to build in the Green Mountain National Forest.
In addition, the White House said it has directed the Forest Service to speed its review of applications from oil and natural gas producers for well and ancillary services such as pipelines and powerline in the Dakota Prairie and Little Missouri National Grasslands.
Roughly 80 applications have been filed, the White House said, adding that the Forest Service will work with the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management to expedite its review of the requests.
Tuesday's announcement comes a week after the administration said it will accelerate permitting and construction of seven proposed electric transmission lines.
