SMART Infrastructure Act of 2025

Full Title:
SMART Infrastructure Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to build a centralized, web-based e-NEPA portal and to promote use of "digital twin" models for Department of Transportation–led infrastructure projects. Key steps in the bill include: writing guidelines for using digital twins within 18 months; starting a pilot program within 120 days to test digital twins on at least 10 covered projects and reporting results to Congress within 2 years; creating an e-NEPA portal within 2 years that links with digital twins, stores documents securely, and gives public access to nonsensitive documents and comment periods; requiring all federal agencies to use the portal for covered projects beginning January 1, 2028; directing the Secretary to seek at least a 25% reduction in NEPA review timelines for eligible projects and to issue guidance within 1 year to help do that; requiring a single environmental document to be used across agencies for each covered project; and providing annual reports to Congress on progress and outcomes.

What it means for you#

  • Project sponsors and federal reviewers: The Department of Transportation will develop standards and a portal to submit, track, and coordinate NEPA documents and to integrate high-fidelity digital models. Eligible projects that use the portal and digital twins are supposed to get faster reviews.
  • Members of the public and local communities: The portal will provide public access to nonsensitive environmental documents, project timelines, and a way to submit comments during NEPA public comment periods.
  • Agencies: Federal, State, and local agencies involved in covered projects must use the e-NEPA portal for permitting starting January 1, 2028.

Expenses#

No publicly available information. The bill requires the Department of Transportation to develop a portal, run a pilot program, adopt standards, and prepare reports, but it does not include cost estimates or specific funding levels in the text provided.

Proponents' View#

According to the bill's findings, supporters say that permitting is often delayed by poor coordination and paper-based documents; digital twins and a centralized e-NEPA portal can improve communication, preserve detailed project data, enable real-time visualization, reduce review timelines, improve stakeholder collaboration, and support environmental protections and economic growth.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.