Tiny Office That Speeds Environmental Permits to Get Bigger (1)

The head of a small federal office tasked with speeding up environmental permitting said he plans to increase staff and market the group’s existence more aggressively to private companies and local governments.

The bid to expand the influence of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council may have already begun: on Wednesday, the office announced it added hardrock mining and land revitalization to the list of sectors it works on.

The council’s expanded mandate jibes with President Donald Trump’s efforts to speed environmental permitting, including recent major changes to National Environmental Policy Act rules.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who chairs ...