Skip to main content

ARTBA addresses wetlands permissions

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is offering the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) advice on reducing unnecessary regulatory red-tape on transportation projects through improving the wetlands permissions process. ARTBA has submitted comments to the Corps in response to a government-wide regulatory review initiated by President Obama in 2011. This advice from ARTBA details specific recommendations to make wetlands permitting more efficient. ARTBA is working on ways to reduce u
April 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is offering the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) advice on reducing unnecessary regulatory red-tape on transportation projects through improving the wetlands permissions process. ARTBA has submitted comments to the Corps in response to a government-wide regulatory review initiated by President Obama in 2011. This advice from ARTBA details specific recommendations to make wetlands permitting more efficient. ARTBA is working on ways to reduce unnecessary delays in the transportation review and approval process. Currently, it can take anywhere from nine to 19 years for a project to go from planning to completion. ARTBA stressed the need to make the wetlands permitting process less complicated, without sacrificing environmental protections. It has asked the Corps to place strict time limits on permitting decisions, allowing planners to know exactly when a decision would be reached on a project and plan accordingly. ARTBA has suggested that no permits should be required when projects do not have an ecological effect on wetlands, and regulations should not be mandated when there is no practical need. In addition ARTBA also suggests that the US 1293 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be removed from permission decisions. Protection of sensitive areas is assured though through ARTBA’s plan as both US Congress and the courts have given the Corps the sole responsibility for wetlands permissions. This policy would reduce bureaucracy as there is no need for two agencies to carry out a job that can be handled by one. ARTBA’s recent comments represent the fourth agency-wide regulatory review the association has participated in since early 2011. The association also offered detailed comments to the 2364 US Department of Transportation, EPA, and Small Business Administration

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Future-proofing construction & quarrying equipment sustainability
    February 16, 2023
    Sustainability is a huge topic across the construction and quarrying industry – not just in terms of what can be achieved tomorrow via carbon-free hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen internal combustion engines of machine fleets, but today, through the use of smart technology to make jobsites more efficient and sustainable by getting work done right first time, every time
  • Building the diamond road in Lesotho
    April 6, 2016
    A job site in the Southern African nation of Lesotho represents one of the most extreme and challenging projects to some key Italian firms of the last 10 years. The project was certainly different from the norm It involves building a road in the Lesotho Mountains, some 200km from the capital Maseru, with the work being carried out by the Cooperative of Building and Cement workers from Ravenna (CMC). CMC, which has ranked among Marini's clients for many years now, is involved in the construction of a
  • Launch of landmark IRF Vienna Manifesto on ITS at World Congress
    November 1, 2012
    The culmination of extensive deliberation and work over the past few years by IRF Geneva’s Policy Committee on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), The IRF Vienna Manifesto on ITS – Smart Transport Policies for Sustainable Mobility will be the object of a high-profile launch during the forthcoming 19th ITS World Congress, to be held in the Austrian capital from 22-26 October 2012. The Manifesto brings together key policy arguments for investing in ITS as well as a set of supporting policy recommendations.
  • Turning the construction industry green
    July 19, 2023
    Green is good for industry – delivering sustainability can also help reduce costs for construction firms, ensuring better financial performance