Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced plans Thursday to speed up the application process for oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands so permits are approved within 30 days.
Under the law, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management has 30 days to grant or deny a permit—once all National Environmental Policy Act requirements are fulfilled.
In 2016, Zinke said, the application process took an average of 257 days and the Obama administration cancelled or postponed 11 lease sales. Zinke intends to keep the entire process to under a month.
"This is just good government," he said, referring to the order.