Trump infrastructure task force suggests arbitration to speed projects

Infrastructure projects in the United States can take as long as 10 years to obtain all necessary permits after all issues, including environmental impacts, are addressed.

To speed up permitting, President Donald Trump's infrastructure task force has suggested using the bankruptcy court arbitration process as a model for a revamped approach. Developer Richard LeFrak, who serves on the task force, said under this model one person would be the final word on all project issues, like an arbitrator in bankruptcy cases.

LeFrak told Reuters that the advisory council is proposing a pilot program that would reduce red tape and halt litigation on infrastructure projects. The process would not allow developers to avoid environmental compliance, but would allow differences and objections to be addressed and resolved faster.

Australia, Canada, and Germany typically take two years to approve infrastructure projects compared with 10 years in the United States, LeFrak said.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.