Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) has published its Fiscal Year 2022 Best Practices on Enhancing Early Tribal Engagement (FY 2022 Best Practices). FPISC is comprised of 16 federal members, which include the FPISC Executive Director, the Deputy Secretary (or equivalent) from 13 federal agencies, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It is required to issue recommendations annually on best practices for covered projects under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). Covered FAST-41 projects include those pertaining to renewable and conventional energy production, electricity transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, mining, and carbon capture.
On May 13, 2022, USET SPF submitted comments
in response to Tribal consultations held by FPISC and recommended that federal employees of FPISC and the employees of its member federal agencies receive education and training on Tribal sovereignty and our Nation-to-Nation relationship with the United States. We also urged FPISC to prioritize technical assistance funding to Tribal Nations to assist in the review of FAST-41 project proposals and permit applications affecting Tribal Lands, including those lands of environmental, cultural, and historic significance that are currently located outside of our jurisdictional boundaries.
FPSIC’s FY 2022 Best Practices has acknowledged several of USET SPF’s recommendations, which include providing technical assistance to Tribal Nations in reviewing FAST-41 projects and permits and ensuring early consultation with Tribal Nations on these projects. To view a summary report of FPISC’s “Government-to-Government Consultation Summary Report”, please click here. To view a summary of FPISC's FY 2022 Best Practices document, please click here.
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
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