DEEP Highlights Major Progress Improving Efficiency and Speed of its Permitting Programs, Regulations, and Processes

More Effective Cleanup Regulations, More Streamlined General Permits, New Permitting Lanes Framework, Faster Payment System, Faster Grant Contracts Process, and More Through DEEP’s 20BY26 Initiative

(HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced that it has made significant progress in improving the efficiency and speed of its permitting and regulatory programs, grant processing and payment systems, and more under DEEP’s 20BY26 initiative. As part of that initiative, two years ago DEEP set 20 performance goals to strengthen the transparency, efficiency, and predictability of DEEP’s permitting, environmental review, and other processes by the end of 2026.

Many of the goals have been completed or are near completion, as detailed below. In addition, DEEP was able to secure legislative approval of key process improvement measures that will help the agency better achieve our 20BY26 objectives. In 2025 and 2026, the Governor signed PA 25-84 and PA 26-124, respectively, which supported the Department’s ongoing work to streamline permitting processes. In addition, the Department, in collaboration with the legislature, successfully championed efforts in recent years to support the state's transition to a release-based regulatory framework for remediating contaminated sites (PA 25-54), join 39 other states as an 'agreement state' under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to oversee radioactive materials efficiently and safely (PA 25-170), and allow DEEP to more nimbly respond to dam-related emergencies (PA 24-94).

In 2025, the new release-based clean-up regulations went into effect. DEEP introduced 12 new, streamlined general permits, a new framework that incentivizes speed and efficiency by prioritizing completed applications, an e-payment system that makes it faster and easier to conduct business with DEEP, and significantly reduced turnaround time for issuing grant contracts under DEEP’s major grant programs.

“DEEP is delivering on its commitment to better serve the residents and businesses of our state,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “Our 20BY26 Initiative represents an intentional effort to improve our processes to make us more effective in achieving our agency’s mission and how we work with the public we serve. As we enter the home stretch of this initiative, I am incredibly proud of all the DEEP staff who have contributed to the amazing progress made on our goals thus far. This work will further contribute to a healthy and clean environment for Connecticut’s residents, while providing clear and timely guidance and processes for our regulated community.”

Here are a few examples of DEEP’s recent 20BY26 achievements:

DEEP made progress throughout 2025 on its Natural Diversity Database (NDDB) Program study, as outlined in PA 25-84, including benchmarking with 10 other states and surveying hundreds of recent applicants, resulting in concrete recommendations for environmental review process improvement. (See Goal 17.)
In March of this year, new Release-Based Cleanup Regulations (RBCRs) went into effect, achieving DEEP’s first 20BY26 goal. The RBCRs replaced the outdated Transfer Act with a modern framework for remediating environmental contamination effectively, efficiently, and economically. In addition, DEEP created the Release Environmental Assessment Cleanup Tracker (REACT), a powerful online tool to report releases, track progress, and see cleanup actions anywhere in CT. Since March 2026, over 200 cases have been created, with over 1,100 submittals uploaded to REACT. (See Goal 1.)
DEEP continues to make progress towards on-time completion of permit decisions. In 2025, DEEP’s Environmental Quality Branch processed 2,213 permit applications, conducted over 4,200 compliance inspections, and issued 80 formal enforcement actions. In 2025, DEEP achieved an 8% improvement compared to 2024 in timely completion of applications that typically take three months, and a 3-7% improvement in completion times for more complex applications that typically take six or twelve months. As of Q1 2026, DEEP achieved 98% on-time completion for permit decisions that typically require three months, and 76% on-time completion for more complex permits that typically require six- to twelve months. (See Goal 2 and Goal 4.)
DEEP’s 20BY26 approach includes not just tracking timely permit completion but using that information to identify opportunities for deeper process improvement. This has led DEEP to adopt twelve new General Permits (GPs) in 2025. DEEP’s Water Permitting and Enforcement Division has re-issued nine GPs, along with updated permit applications, webpages, and newsletters to help guide applicants through the more streamlined GP process, including the new Industrial Wastewater GP and associated resources. DEEP’s Dam Safety Permitting Division re-issued three GPs to facilitate dam repair and removal, based on significant stakeholder feedback. (See Goals Goal 2, Goal 5, and Goal 18.)
Receipt of incomplete applications are another source of permitting delay. In 2025, DEEP’s Land and Water Resources Division (LWRD) successfully piloted DEEP’s new permitting lanes framework, providing speedy rejection of grossly incomplete or “placeholder” applications to encourage submittal of complete applications. This streamlining has freed staff to focus their time on applications that are ready for review, leading to a 20-30% improvement in completion times for complex applications. LWRD has now adopted the permitting lanes framework as the usual method of doing business, and other DEEP permitting programs will incorporate this framework throughout 2026. (See Goal 2.)
DEEP has exceeded its goal of reducing by 65% the backlog of “legacy” permit applications older than five years. As of Q1 2026, DEEP’s legacy application backlog has been reduced by 78%, from 669 applications to 145, continuing to go beyond the goal we set in 20BY26. (See Goal 3.)
DEEP is strengthening enforcement, focusing on increased consistency and transparency through annual enforcement reports and an enforcement map viewer. Overall, DEEP conducted 100 more inspections in 2024 than the previous year, and 70 more in 2025 than in 2024. (See Goal 4). And DEEP has expanded compliance assistance, creating a central hub for compliance assistance information; identifying top 10 common violations and solutions to avoid them; and creating an agency-wide online complaint intake system to streamline reporting. (See Goal Goal 5).
DEEP’s e-payment portal is making it easier for applicants and other customers to conduct business with DEEP. It launched in April 2025 and processed around 800 invoices in the first 9 months of operation, and all of these within 24 hours of receipt. (See Goal 10.)
DEEP is delivering grant contracts faster - five major grant programs have dramatically cut the average turnaround time for contracting by almost 65%. This accomplishment exceeds our goal of speeding up the grant contracting process by 50% by the end of 2026. Almost $9 million was distributed by these five grant programs in 2025. (See Goal 11.)
DEEP improved public records transparency by digitizing large record sets available in the Document Online Search Portal to simplify access and improving the agency’s annual FOI closure rate by 5% in 2025 (See Goal 9).
In May 2025, DEEP launched the Community Renewable Energy Siting Tool (CREST). In addition to DEEP’s regional transmission efforts, these tools support maximizing investment and streamlining permitting for decarbonization in Connecticut. (See Goal 14.)
Connecticut’s State Wildlife Action Plan, a federally mandated blueprint for the conservation of fish, wildlife, rare plants, and the habitats they rely upon was approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2025. DEEP launched the Conservation Action Tracker to help DEEP and conservation organizations work in partnership and share information for this important effort. (See Goal 13.)

DEEP captures its progress in its web-based eBook, updated quarterly. Information reflecting progress on our goals through calendar year 2025 is now available in the eBook. Please continue to share your ideas and feedback on our progress by emailing DEEP.20by26@ct.gov!

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