Support
Support for the Enlibra program is provided by
the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
and by Region IX of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Meeting Information
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Hotel and Registration Info
Background Information on Enlibra
Examples of Enlibra in Action
Policy Resolution
Outlining Enlibra Principles
Frequently Asked Questions
Advisory Committee
Publications, Press Releases and
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Resource Guide
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Environmental Summit
on the West II
Cooperative Siting of Interstate
Energy Infrastructure
Breakout Session II
Efforts
of the White House Task Force
On Energy Project Streamlining
At the recommendation of the National Energy Policy, President Bush
issued Executive Order #13212, Actions to Expedite Energy-Related
Projects, on May 18, 2001. The Executive Order established a federal
interagency task force chaired by the White House Council on Environmental
Quality to take appropriate actions to expedite projects that will
increase the production, transmission, or conservation of energy in a safe
and environmentally sound manner. Executive
Order 13212. The task force is comprised of agency experts from
the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management
Service, Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The task force is broken down into functional areas of exploration
and production, electricity generation, electricity transmission,
pipelines, hydropower, nuclear, renewables and conservation, refineries
and offshore.
In an effort to receive broad and meaningful input from stakeholders,
including state and local governments, environmental groups, trade
associations and energy providers, the task force issued a federal
register notice and held a two-month public comment period.
The task force also held a series of open houses during which time
any interested party could sit down face to face with the members and
discuss ideas. All comments
received and all groups met with are listed on the Web site.
The task force is “outcome neutral” in terms of what the answer
is on particular permits or projects, but is trying to expedite the
decision process and recommend systemic improvements.
To help provide context for the discussion, a case study on the
permitting of the 600 megawatt natural gas-fired Metcalf power plant in San
Jose, California will be presented.
Goals for the Session
This breakout session will review the preliminary findings of the task
force and offer recommendations on them:
- Need for more consistency
across regional/field offices.
- Need for deadlines and
improved coordination of the NEPA review process.
- Need to designate lead agency
with authority to coordinate multiple permitting processes.
- Need to better coordinate
early on with state and local permitting entities.
To guide the discussion during the breakout session, participants will
be asked to address the following specific questions regarding:
1. Does there need to be a clarification of where decision points are
and who decision-makers are (which federal agency, which department within
that agency, field office or HQ, delegated to the states)?
2. How can coordination and integration of decision-making best be
achieved? This needs to be done in a way that does not cut corners on any
environmental laws.
3. How can accountability of federal agencies be improved? Are resource
limits creating bottlenecks?
4. Can the environmental appeals process be improved? Do agencies spend
too much time trying to get to “lawsuit proof” decisions which all end
up in court anyway?
5. What are the lessons learned on how to successfully permit a major
energy facility?
Host/Moderator: V.A. Stephens, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Presenters
Background Information
Notice
and Request for Comments
Comments
Received
White House Task Force on Energy Project
Streamlining
Metcalf
case study: Calpine's recommendations
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