The Biden-Harris administration last week unveiled a lengthy list of steps it is taking to speed up government-funded infrastructure deployments, including work on a “dig once” policy for new infrastructure work including broadband expansion projects.
The steps were laid out by the White House on October 13 at its Accelerating Infrastructure Summit, where officials talked about quickening the pace of infrastructure investments funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law approved late last year.
Making that list of project accelerators is work by the departments of Commerce, Transportation, and Energy on a dig-once policy.
“Dig Once entails interagency coordination on planning, design and construction to prevent multiple excavations for broadband, transportation, and electrification projects,” the White House said.
A dig-once policy, will help “providers to more easily and cheaply install fiber by threading it through existing conduits,” according to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT).
The White House also talked up efforts by the National Governors Association (NGA) to gather experts to help on how to best implement broadband infrastructure expansion strategies.
“The National Governors Association (NGA) convenes officials from states and territories, federal representatives and partners to share best practices, learn from subject matter experts and to discuss details with federal officials. To advance the implementation of infrastructure projects,” the White House said.
It also said that the Commerce Department and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs are “teaming up to accelerate environmental permitting for more rapid delivery of high-speed internet projects on Tribal lands.”
“While the Biden-Harris Administration has hit the ground running to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and delivered impressive early results, accelerating the pace by which the federal, state and local governments and the private sector can deliver infrastructure projects is critical to fully maximizing the benefits of the law,” the White House said.
