Making Permit & License Time Frames More Transparent
Predictable approval timeframes for permit applications give all stakeholders clear expectations on how long it takes to acquire any of DEEP’s more than 100 environmental quality permits. These timeframes also create opportunities for DEEP to improve processes, innovate, and manage staffing resources.
Based upon the extent of review, public notice requirements, potential environmental risk, and technical complexity, each type of permit (i.e., Permit by Rule, General Permit, or Individual Permit) will fall under one of four different timeframes – immediate, within 3 months, within 6 months, or within 12 months.
DEEP’s Environmental Quality Branch (EQ) currently receives approximately 2,000 permit applications per year, covering a diverse range of permits that deal with air, land, water, and waste. DEEP also successfully processes approximately 2,000 permit applications per year, including a backlog of permits from the past five years. Therefore, annually, DEEP processes about the same number of incoming applications as it receives, as reflected in the EQ Permit Totals table below. (Legacy permits, those that pre-date 2017, are discussed on the Legacy Permit dashboard.)
| *EQ Permit Totals |
||
| Applications Received |
Applications Processed |
|
| 2020 | 1,925 | 2,089 |
| 2021 | 2,079 | 1,855 |
| 2022 |
1,986 | 1,927 |
| 2023 | 2,226 | 2,220 |
* These totals do not currently include our online applications and professional license applications due to alternative tracking systems. Once more of our applications are on line, these totals will also reflect online applications received and processed.
It is important to note that, despite the challenges beginning in 2020 - a severe reduction in staff with 2021-22 retirements, a focus on addressing backlogged and legacy permits, the COVID-19 pandemic, the time spent hiring new staff and training them in the processing of these permits, and an increase in permit load for 2022 – DEEP continues to keep pace.
Explore our interactive data below by selecting the type of license and the timeframe you want to view. These charts display the total number of permits due to be processed in each 90-, 180-, and 365-day timeframes, represented by the sum of the light orange plus the dark orange bars.