Demystifying FAST-41: A guide to the designation fast-tracking some development projects

Over the past 20 months, the Trump administration has rolled back regulations and passed executive orders aiming to cut red tape and unilaterally speed up development projects. The approach has taken numerous avenues that enter into weedy and bureaucratic territory, fast. And in true bureaucratic fashion, sweeping policy changes come with a litany of acronyms you may have never heard of. 

Take, for instance, “FAST-41.” This federal law is one of several changing policies that have significant on-the-ground impacts for the nation’s public lands and waters. FAST-41 designations can only be assigned to infrastructure projects, and the Trump administration is increasingly expanding that definition to include industries like mining and artificial intelligence data centers. 

In a July 2025 Executive Order, Trump declared the FAST-41 process should be used to push development of AI data centers. “My Administration will utilize federally owned land and resources for the expeditious and orderly development of data centers,” the directive reads. “This usage will be done in a manner consistent with the land’s intended purpose — to be used in service of the prosperity and security of the American people.”

Last week, Montana entered into an agreement to partner with the federal government on approving development projects through FAST-41. Here’s what you need to know.

WHAT IS IT?

Title 41 of FAST-41, or the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, was originally passed under former President Barack Obama in 2015. It was created as a mechanism to streamline federal review for approval of large-scale infrastructure projects, and improve the public’s access to any permits and documents produced as part of federal review. 

FAST-41 established a dashboard where anyone can view a project’s timelines, required actions by federal agencies, and the status of environmental review and permits. It is overseen by what’s often referred to as the Permitting Council, made up of representatives from 15 federal agencies. 

Here’s where it gets a bit more confusing: projects listed under FAST-41 fall into one of two categories. 

1. Covered project listing – This means a project will receive expedited processes including a set permitting timeline that federal agencies must comply with, and being assigned a project coordinator to carry the project through the review process.
   1. For example: The Arctic Project, a proposed open-pit mining operation in Alaska, which has a coordinator from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a scheduled timeline for when the federal government will publish its analysis of the project’s potential environmental impacts. 
      
2. Transparency project listing – This creates, essentially, a one-stop shop for a project on the FAST-41 dashboard. It’s a centralized location with information on permitting documents.
   1. For example: The Sheep Creek Project, proposed in the Bitterroot National Forest in Ravalli County is a transparency-listed project, and the dashboard reflects the estimated completion date of environmental review and permitting as Aug. 17, 2027. 

WHERE DOES MONTANA FIT IN?

In late October, Montana became the 11th state to enter into an agreement with the Permitting Council. This means the federal government will help the state to identify infrastructure projects eligible for a FAST-41 designation, provide resources to state agencies through the permitting process, and include state level permitting actions and timelines to the federal transparency dashboard. 

Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and Iowa have all signed agreements as well. This is the first time in FAST-41’s history that these kinds of federal-state agreements have occurred. 

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the official Memorandum of Understanding with the Permitting Council on October 27. “This MOU will ensure that critical infrastructure projects avoid unnecessary roadblocks after completion of federal and state environmental review processes,” Gianforte said at an event announcing the agreement. “This is especially important for energy infrastructure.” 

Adrian Van Rythoven, an associate professor with Montana Tech’s Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, said the intent of FAST-41 is to remove some of the uncertainty surrounding federal permitting. He compared it to the Domino’s Pizza delivery-tracker app that lets customers know where in the process their pizza is before they take a bite.

“Like, [when] they are putting on toppings, or [when] it is in the oven, and [when] it is ready for pick up,” Van Rythoven said. “[FAST-41] is kind of a more simplified version of that with what’s happening with a permit; how long is it going to be with this person or agency.” 

According to Van Rythoven, FAST-41 establishes clarity and certainty in the process, which is beneficial for businesses like publicly traded mineral-exploration companies. “Capital markets like having timelines,” he said, adding that timelines build investor confidence and ensure more money flows toward mineral development. 

But ultimately, Van Rythoven said, it remains to be seen if this new MOU between Montana and the Permitting Council would speed things up. He pointed to the extensive personnel and resources required to process applications. 

“The scientists, the legal experts that work initially at the federal government, now perhaps the state government with this MOU, if those resources of human time, money, etcetera, aren’t made available to process these applications, it’ll be transparently slow.”

WHAT’S NEXT? 

But for others, the partnership leaves more questions than answers. “I think there’s room for a lot of political interference, ignoring state law and cutting the public out of the process,” said Derf Johnson, Deputy Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “I wonder how this MOU will conflict with Montanans’ right to know.”

Johnson supports improved transparency and said the dashboard is a useful site where the public can access information about a project. But he fears the agreement could allow projects to be prioritized based on elected officials and political appointees rather than true merit for critical infrastructure. 

“I’m worried about projects receiving this designation in the age of corruption that we live in,” he said. 

This latest state-federal partnership comes alongside sweeping changes to bedrock environmental policies like the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and how mining projects are permitted on federal lands.

The change could also mean more work for state agencies, according to Jared Naimark, the Western Mining Senior Manager with national environmental nonprofit Earthworks. “It could put pressure on states to push things faster to meet deadlines,” Naimark said. “That’s something for Montanans to look out for.” 

And it’s especially true, he added, in states with constitutional protections like Montana. Naimark also worries how this might impact public awareness. 

“It’s becoming more and more important to get basic information about when a mining project is coming to your area, and what the impacts might be,” he said. “It’s important to make those processes as robust as possible so the voices of communities can be heard by decision makers as part of the process.” 

Currently, 66 “covered” FAST-41 projects exist across the country. One-third of those are for mining. Montana does not have any FAST-41 covered projects, but there are three mining or mining exploration projects in the state with a “transparency” designation. Those are the Sheep Creek Project, Blue Copper and the Stillwater Mine.