The US Department of the Interior announced it is implementing emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic critical mineral and other energy projects, using US President Donald Trump's declaration of a "National Energy Emergency" on his first day in office.
The government department said the measures would fast-track projects from "a multi-year [process] down to just 28 days at most".
"The US cannot afford to wait," Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said. "We are cutting through unnecessary delays to fast-track the development of American energy and critical minerals - resources that are essential to our economy, our military readiness, and our global competitiveness."
"By reducing a multi-year permitting process down to just 28 days, the Department will lead with urgency, resolve, and a clear focus on strengthening the nation's energy independence," he added.
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The Interior Department is using emergency authorities through the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act to reduce timelines, including those for environmental assessments from one year to around 14 days and for a full environmental impact statement from two years to roughly 28 days.
Environmental groups have been fearing that Trump's policies will weaken federal environmental protections, and these latest actions by the Interior Department seem to confirm those concerns.
Sierra Club, one of the US's largest environmental organisations, said the new policy put a "troublingly short time limit" on permitting, adding that it would effectively reduce environmental reviews and public input to a formality.
"These arbitrary time limits make a complete review of the risks of potentially hazardous projects impossible," Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, said. "A shoddy review means the true hazards of a project may only be known when the air or water thousands of people rely on is dangerously polluted."
The National Mining Association, however, said it applauded the actions.
"The status quo on US permitting is a nonstarter, and our cumbersome processes have been longstanding enablers of China's global mineral dominance. The US has the second-longest timeline in the world to bring mines online - 29 years - which has not only undercut American mining competitiveness but also driven our alarming mineral import reliance," NMA president Rich Nolan said.
"With this streamlined process, we can better compete with China, advance responsible projects, feed our supply chains with responsibly sourced materials, and reliably meet the material and energy demands of modern life."
