Overview
The Office of the Permit Ombudsman will coordinate and expedite permits and approvals with the Departments of Energy & Environmental Protection, Transportation and Public Health for projects that:
- Are located within the designated Opportunity Zones;
- Create at least 50 permanent, full-time equivalent non-construction jobs in any of the state’s 17 Enterprise Zones or at least 100 such jobs elsewhere in the state;
- Clean up and develop abandoned or underused property (e.g., brownfields);
- Are compatible with the state’s responsible growth initiatives;
- Develop a mix of different but compatible uses near transportation facilities and infrastructure (e.g., transit-oriented development);
- Develops green technology businesses (e.g., a business that employs at least 25% of its workers in jobs that use or develop green technology or fall into state occupation codes for green jobs);
- Assist and provide guidance to bioscience businesses seeking to expedite the review and approval of permits required by local zoning authorities.
Activities Excluded from Expedited Review:
- Are final disposal sites for solid, biomedical or hazardous wastes;
- Produce electricity, unless the production is incidental and not the project’s primary function;
- Extract natural resources;
- Produce oil; or
- Construct, maintain or operate an oil, petroleum, natural gas or sewerage pipeline.
Contact
For additional information or questions, please contact Maya Loewenberg, DECD Permit Ombudsman via email at Maya.Loewenberg@ct.gov.