United for Infrastructure Newsletter | February 6, 2026
United for Infrastructure’s statement on the passage of the THUD Appropriations Act
Earlier this week, Congress passed the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2026. UFI issued the following statement regarding its passage:
Winter Storm Fern tests American infrastructure
Winter Storm Fern barreled across much of the United States last week, causing widespread power outages, water main breaks, flight cancellations, major interstate closures, and severe disruptions to the logistics sector. One expert has preliminarily estimated the damages and economic losses from Winter Storm Fern at between $105 billion and $115 billion.
In Nashville, one of the cities hit hardest by the storm, thousands of Nashville Electric Service customers are still without power; at the storm’s peak, 230,000 customers lost power. “I’ve offered every Metro resource that [Nashville Electric Service] could possibly need to get the lights back on for everyone,” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell told local media during a volunteer event on February 4. “We will keep pushing them to beat their own estimates, and over the last few days, they have. My message to them is: don’t let up ’til power is fully restored to all customers.”
Mayor O’Connell added that the city is looking at underground utilities to help prevent such widespread outages in the future. “Taking the infrastructure that powers our city and starting to move more of it underground is a critical way we make ourselves more resilient because we know storms like these will continue to happen.”
President Trump has approved 12 states’ Winter Storm Emergency Declarations, and the Department of Energy granted the country’s largest electric grid operators, Duke Energy Progress and PJM Interconnection, permission to use all available resources to meet energy demand. On January 30, DOE extended these measures to further mitigate the risk of blackouts as Arctic temperatures lingered even after the storm passed.
Brendan Bechtel, LiUNA, and association leaders testified on permitting reform
Leaders representing Business Roundtable, Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA), American Petroleum Institute, Solar Energy Industries Association, and National Association of State Energy Officials testified on the Hill about the urgent need for federal permitting reforms.
Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO of Bechtel, spoke about permitting reform during UFI’s signature Infrastructure Week event.
The hearing spotlighted recommendations from “Building a Prosperous Future,” a September 2025 report released by UFI Steering Committee member Business Roundtable, which calls for modernizing the federal permitting process for major infrastructure projects. During his testimony, Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO of Bechtel and Chair of Business Roundtable’s Smart Regulation Committee, enumerated some of the recommendations in that report, including:
Amending NEPA to limit reviews to environmental impacts not already within another federal agency’s direct regulatory jurisdiction,
Improving the litigation process for alleged NEPA violations, including shortening the statute of limitations following a final permitting decision, and
Reducing redundancies by directing agencies to utilize nationwide permits, programmatic Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), categorical exclusions and “permits by rule.”
“Every year of delay holds America back. Bipartisan permitting reform will strengthen U.S. competitiveness by ensuring America can actually build critical infrastructure at the speed and scale already being delivered by other countries,” Bechtel said, citing a McKinsey study that found that permitting delays results in $1.7 trillion to $2.4 trillion in unrealized GDP impact.
LiUNA General President Brent Booker testified that permitting delays put skilled workers’ livelihoods in jeopardy since they spend their careers moving from project to project.
“Our members are the backbone of America’s infrastructure. Our members build and maintain this nation’s highways, roads, bridges, and tunnels. We construct schools, hospitals, arenas, and skyscrapers. And we build and support America’s energy infrastructure which includes wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, and pipelines. Simply put: LIUNA builds America,” Booker said. “Yet today, far too much of that work is being stalled, delayed, or canceled altogether. For decades, outdated permitting laws have been weaponized to obstruct critical infrastructure. Projects, regardless of size, now take years longer than necessary to receive approval."
Prior to the hearing, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a UFI Steering Committee member, joined the Bipartisan Policy Center Action and a number of conservation and environmental organizations to call on Congress to take action on permitting reform.
Sound reforms will not only accelerate project deployment but also uphold our strong environmental standards, producing better outcomes for American businesses and communities alike. There will be profound energy affordability, national security, and environmental benefits associated with bipartisan, technology-neutral permitting reform,” the joint letter states.
Related:
The White House announced on January 29 that it has launched a pilot program for CE Works, a technology platform that digitizes the environmental review process to assist federal agencies with completing categorical exclusion (CE) determinations pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Caroline Sevier, managing director of government relations & infrastructure initiatives for the American Society of Civil Engineers (a UFI Steering Committee member), told Construction Dive: “We think that anytime that the federal government is able to leverage new technologies that are out there to expedite the federal permitting process, ensure we’re maintaining that balance with the environment but still get critical infrastructure projects done is going to be a positive step forward.”
Let's build a stronger America together
Join us in building a stronger America by planning an event for Infrastructure Week 2026 (May 18–22) and sharing your story about the importance of sustained federal infrastructure funding. Explore the Infrastructure Week Toolkit to plan your event and use the Building a Stronger America campaign resources to submit a short video detailing the impact of infrastructure investment in your community. Together, we can ensure communities nationwide receive the investments they need to thrive.
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