Montana Joins FAST-41 to Speed Up Infrastructure Permitting

Over the past 20 months, the Trump administration has rolled back regulations and passed executive orders aiming to cut red tape and unilaterally speed up development projects. The approach has taken numerous avenues that enter into weedy and bureaucratic territory, fast. And in true bureaucratic fashion, sweeping policy changes come with a litany of acronyms you may have never heard of.

Take, for instance, “FAST-41.” This federal law is one of several changing policies that have significant on-the-ground impacts for the nation’s public lands and waters. FAST-41 designations can only be assigned to infrastructure projects, and the Trump administration is increasingly expanding that definition to include industries like mining and artificial intelligence data centers.

FAST-41 established a dashboard where anyone can view a project’s timelines, required actions by federal agencies, and the status of environmental review and permits. It is overseen by what’s often referred to as the Permitting Council, made up of representatives from 15 federal agencies.

“I’m worried about projects receiving this designation in the age of corruption that we live in,”

Demystifying FAST-41: A guide to the designation fast-tracking some development projects
By Ellis Juhlin, Montana Free Press