Permit Delivery
Subcommittee
Vision:
The Permit Delivery Subcommittee will
experiment with innovative approaches that can lead to measurable
success in streamlining permit processes to maximize environmental
benefit, reduce delays, and their associated negative impacts. The
committee will coordinate innovations in environmental review and permit
decision-making among federal, state, and local government agencies
while involving stakeholders more efficiently and effectively. These
principles will be tested on selected pilot projects.
Objectives: Evaluate
opportunities for permit reform, develop tools, and make recommendations
on a number of very complex streamlining issues.
Authorization:
Formed in November 2002 with the merger of Pilot
Projects and One-Stop subcommittees.
Products: Read about the Permit
Delivery Subcommittee's products in their final report to TPEAC.
Read more
about web-based permitting tools in the Resource Library.
Other Significant Events/Milestones:
- 11/02: One-Stop and Pilot Project
Subcommittees merged to form Permit Delivery
- 12/02-12/03: Surveyed IDTs on both Pilots
and compiled results in TPEAC Pilot Projects IDT Report
Results:
The Permit Delivery Subcommittee provided WSDOT with several new
tools and innovative approaches for environmental permitting. The
Subcommittee served as a valuable forum to raise awareness, evaluate,
and develop solutions for permit streamlining. Working together and
sharing perspectives allowed the group to better understand the
complexities of the permitting and coordinating issues involved in the
successful delivery of transportation projects. The Subcommittee’s
efforts to pioneer the process of creating Interagency Permit Teams
(IPT) provides a model for coordinating permit timelines and
requirements among regulatory agencies and supports the importance of
early and frequent communication and coordination between WSDOT and
regulators. Evaluation of web-based permitting proved that it is a tool
capable of providing multiple streamlining benefits. Web-based
permitting provides for several individual streamlining efforts
initially evaluated by the subcommittee. This tool shows huge promise
for improving the Joint Aquatic Resource Permit Application (JARPA)
process by improving the ease and accuracy of permit submittal,
increasing and enhancing agency review and allowing for coordinated
agency comment and approvals, and serving as a project management data
base.
The Hood Canal
Bridge (SR 104) and Yakima River Bridge (SR 24) pilot projects provided
much insight into the complexities of permitting of large transportation
projects. The pilots also showed how the unique attributes and site
condition of each project make it difficult to create process and
streamlining improvements that will be applicable to every project. The
use of IPT teams helped reinforce the importance of early communication
and project coordination between WSDOT and regulatory agencies.
The
subcommittee also identified impediments to streamlining. Creation of a
true One-Stop Permit Process was found to be unfeasible and impractical
due to the complexity of the numerous federal, state, and local
permitting requirements, timelines, and review, approval processes that
occur in Washington State. Issues such as start and stop funding of
transportation projects, and problems with accurate work load
forecasting were identified as a huge problem for effective and
efficient project development and permitting for WSDOT and resource
agencies.
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