New federal-state environmental pact aims to speed up Texas highway projects

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The U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas Department of Transportation filed a new version of an agreement expanding Texas’ ability to conduct environmental reviews in an effort to accelerate critical bridge and highway construction projects.

The agreement, announced Friday by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is part of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, Assignment Program, which allows states to assume certain federal environmental reviewing responsibilities to streamline construction projects. Those reviews analyze contruction’s impact on ecosystems, neighborhoods and other surrounding areas and planning processes for environmental protections. The most recent report from 2024 found “inconsistencies” with the state’s construction planning for noise barriers, which block noise pollution from highways.

All states are eligible for the NEPA program, but Texas is one of just seven states with active agreements, with Nebraska currently awaiting enrollment, according to the FHWA. Texas initially entered into the NEPA program in 2014, and renewal of the enrollment is required every five years.

TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams lauded the continued agreement as a way to quicken construction in a Friday statement, which listed State Highway 36A in Houston and downtown Interstate 10 in El Paso as some benefiting projects.

“Texas taking responsibility for the Federal environmental approval process has served to expedite transportation projects and reduce costs,” Williams said. “This new agreement is a significant step forward by the Trump Administration to solidify a strong Federal-State partnership and empower Texas to efficiently move projects forward.”

The agreement submitted to the Federal Register on Friday is the second version of the proposal submitted in the past year, as the original proposal was submitted in November.

The version submitted Friday is a revised agreement designed to “ensure alignment with Administration policies,” according to a statement in the Federal Register. Some changes between the two agreements include extending the renewal period to 10 years and removing redundancies in review requirements.

The updated agreement also removes a list of executive orders that applied to highway projects, instead stating it will comply with “relevant executive orders.” Half of those listed orders were signed by former President Joe Biden, and a statement from FHWA pointed blame at Biden and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for “project delivery hurdles” that the new agreement cut.

The agreement, part of Duffy’s “America is Building Again” agenda, is currently open to public comment on the Federal Register website until July 7.

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