President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck an agreement late Saturday to suspend the debt ceiling for two years. The result of their talks, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, will cut $136 billion in federal spending and avert a default, and most notably for the nation’s civil contractors, includes measures to accelerate environmental permitting. Provisions to speed projects such as some highways, bridges and pipelines include designating one lead federal agency to oversee environmental reviews and the use of a single “concise public document” for each project. Environmental reviews would have to be completed in no more than two years. Congress must pass the measure before June 5, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the United States will run out of cash.
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