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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
mining projects. The designation of mining as a FAST41 sector does not predetermine or affect any Federal agency decision with respect to any mining authorization or permit application, nor does it sidestep any required environmental review or public consultation process.
This rule becomes effective on January 8, 2021.

DATES:

John G. Cossa, General Counsel, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, 1800 G St. NW, Suite 2400, Washington, DC 20006, john.cossa@
fpisc.gov, or by telephone at 202255
6936.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call the Federal Information Relay Service FIRS at 18008778339 to contact this individual during normal business hours or to leave a message at other times. FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will receive a reply to a message during normal business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

On November 27, 2020, the Permitting Council, which comprises the Permitting Council Executive Director;
13 Federal agency council members including the designees of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Housing and Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairmen of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; and additional Permitting Council members, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality CEQ and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget OMB; 1
published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to designate mining as a sector of infrastructure projects eligible for coverage under FAST41, 42 U.S.C.
4370m et seq. 85 FR 75998. The comment period for the proposed rule closed on December 28, 2020. The Permitting Council received 6,487
comments, the majority of which were form letters opposed to the proposal.
Responses to selected comments are contained in the Responses to Selected Comments section below. The Permitting Council did not alter the regulatory proposal in response to comments.

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1 See 42 U.S.C. 4370m1b Prescribing Permitting Council composition.

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The Permitting Council reviewed the comments received, and on January 4, 2021, voted whether to designate mining, as defined in the proposed rule, as a FAST41 sector. A majority of the Permitting Council, including the Executive Director, Permitting Council members representing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security, and the Chairman of CEQ voted in favor of the proposal. The Permitting Council member representing the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Director of OMB abstained from the vote. The Permitting Council member representing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not vote. No Permitting Council member voted against the proposal.
The Permitting Council continues to believe that, like the other FAST41
sectors, mining is an important infrastructure sector. Mining projects can involve the construction of significant infrastructure, require substantial investment, and necessitate extensive and complex Federal and state environmental reviews and authorizations. Accordingly, like qualified projects from the statutory FAST41 sectors, mining projects that satisfy the other covered project criteria of 42 U.S.C. 4370m6 could benefit from the enhanced interagency coordination, transparency, and predictability provided by FAST41
coverage. Extending FAST41 coverage to qualified mining projects is consistent with Executive Order E.O.
13807, Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects, 82 FR 40463
Aug. 14, 2017 and E.O. 13817, A
Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, 82 FR 60835 Dec. 20, 2017.
Because a majority of the Permitting Council voted in favor of designating mining as a FAST41 sector pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4370m6A, the Permitting Council will add part 1900 to title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations to designate mining as a FAST41 sector.
Responses to Selected Comments The Permitting Council received 6,487 comments, the majority of which were variants of two form letters opposed to adding mining as a FAST
41 sector. Although none of the
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comments resulted in changes to the proposed rule, the Permitting Council provides the following comment responses to clarify apparent misperceptions in the comment record about the scope and effect of FAST41
and FAST41 coverage.
Denial of Request for Extension of Time To Comment On December 9, 2020, the Permitting Council received a letter undersigned by several non-governmental entities requesting that the Permitting Council extend by an additional 45 days the 30day comment period for the proposed rule. The letter asserted that the extension was needed because the ongoing COVID19 crisis and the holiday season limited the ability of potentially affected stakeholders to provide timely comment, particularly given the various and disparate environmental and economic effects of mining. The Permitting Council denied the extension request, explaining that 30
days was sufficient time to provide comment on the proposal, which is administrative in nature and does not make any mining project more or less likely to be approved or implemented, or any environmental or economic effect that may be associated with a mining project to occur.
Authority To Designate Mining as a FAST41 Sector Numerous commenters incorrectly argue that the scope of the FAST Act is limited to transportation, and that therefore, the Permitting Council is prohibited from designating mining which is not transportationas a FAST41 sector. While much of the FAST Act does deal with transportation issues, 6 of the 10 statutory FAST41
sectorsrenewable energy production, conventional energy production, electricity transmission, water resource projects, broadband, and manufacturingare not transportation.
42 U.S.C. 4370m6A. Nothing in FAST41 suggests that the Permitting Council is prohibited from designating new sectors that are not transportation.
Some commenters make the unsubstantiated assertion that Congress intentionally did not include mining as a FAST41 sector because the environmental effects of mining allegedly are more severe than the effects of the other FAST41 sectors.
The FAST41 statute contains no evidence of such Congressional intent.
The statute places no limitation on the Permitting Councils authority to add a FAST41 sector based on that sectors perceived environmental impacts. On the contrary, the only limitation
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