What if, rather than an infrastructure bill, the President’s administration created an entire department of infrastructure? That’s what Forbes‘ contributors Ellis Talton and Remington Tonar suggest in their latest editorial.  Eliminating “fragmentation and redundancy in the Executive Branch” could eliminate overlap and create new synergies among the many departments which play a role in infrastructure development, including the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

From the editorial:

Consolidating these entities into a Department of Infrastructure would give stakeholders — from the American Society of Civil Engineers to the American Water Works Association, from AECOM to Blackrock, from states to municipalities — much-needed clarity on how our physical systems are funded, regulated and operated.

The benefits of consolidating agencies into a Department of Infrastructure are legion.

The writers opine that the move would eliminate administrative overhead, simplify approval and permitting processes, and foster collaboration.