The toolkit will increase transparency and collaboration among electricity stakeholders and further prioritize electricity resilience and reliability
December 2, 2019
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the expansion of the Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit to include bulk electric transmission line permitting regulations at the Canadian federal and provincial levels. The toolkit will increase transparency and collaboration among electricity stakeholders and further prioritize electricity resilience and reliability across the United States and Canada.
The RAPID Toolkit facilitates communication between project developers and permitting agency personnel, among permitting agencies at all jurisdiction levels, and among all project stakeholders—including the public. The expansion will enhance understanding of cross-border permitting processes for electric transmission facilities between the United States and Canada since projects typically require approvals at multiple levels of government.
Through a web portal, agencies, developers, and industry stakeholders can access links to permit applications, processes, manuals, and related information on federal bulk transmission regulatory processes for all 50 states and, now, Canada. The site also includes a regulatory and permitting database, reference library, best practices, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) Database.
"Expanding the RAPID Toolkit will streamline coordination with Canada as a crucial energy trading partner," said Bruce J. Walker, Assistant Secretary for Electricity. "It’s critical that both U.S. and Canadian stakeholders have an in-depth understanding of the permits required to construct cross-border electric transmission projects, which will lead to further electric integration between our two countries."
The RAPID Toolkit was expanded to include 33 states in February 2017, then expanded again in 2019 to include all 50 states. The expansion to Canada was made possible with the assistance of staff at Natural Resources Canada. The RAPID Toolkit can be found at https://rapidtoolkit.org. A factsheet on the bulk transmission toolkit can also be found here: https://openei.org/wiki/RAPID/BulkTransmission/Factsheet.