Christine Harada was named in July 2021 by President Joe Biden as the first permanent executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, created to expedite infrastructure project permit approvals involving federal lands and/or multiple agencies. The little-known program, called FAST-41, dates to 2015 when it began as a pilot under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act to test more efficient environmental review procedures for selected projects and insure agencies are ready sooner for project approval tasks. The council, which was made a permanent entity in 2021 with passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, now oversees more than $100 billion worth of projects and includes representatives from 13 federal agencies and the White House. It updates a website on the status of projects with portals to gain information and voice concerns.
Previously, Harada was vice president for government affairs at Heliogen, a California renewable energy technology firm. As federal Chief Sustainability Officer under President Barack Obama, she oversaw all federal sustainability-related initiatives in energy and vehicle fleet management. Harada also held top policy and management roles at the U.S. General Services Administration and is a former senior systems engineer at Lockheed Martin. Harada spoke with ENR correspondent Mary Powers about how the council operates to usher projects to the permitting finish line.