Report: Washington state environmental permitting reform needs further fixing

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A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report provides an in-depth analysis of Washington state's environmental permitting record. Washington has reformed several aspects of its permitting process, most notably through the state's Permit Timeliness Initiative, which aims to increase transparency for businesses and citizens applying for permits. The creation of online databases lets applicants view visual representations of the permit process and assists applicants in planning out projects. Additionally, Washington has also experimented with creating teams and councils that fast-track different permit types.

While some processes have been improved through better transparency, unfortunately, additional red tape has created process gaps within the state's permitting system, like increased average wait times for permit decisions and hassles with complicated stakeholder project input.

"Washington state shines when it comes to permit transparency, but data alone doesn't speed up approvals," report author and Senior Fellow James Broughel says. "While officials got better at measuring and tracking delays, the average time it takes to get permits approved has still increased. Instead of adding more layers of stakeholder consultation, Washington should focus on streamlining its core permitting processes using the wealth of data it has available."

Broughel suggests Washington revisit reforming its permitting system to fix inefficiencies and aid the state's economic environment.

Several of the key reforms that the report suggests Washington should consider include:

• Use data being collected as part of the Permit Transparency initiative to further streamline the permitting process;
• Treat public engagement cautiously to avoid adding further bottlenecks, and;
• Avoid creating special exemptions for politically-favored energy projects and industries.

Read the full report on CEI.org:Permanently in Recovery: Washington state's ongoing struggle to streamline permitting

Read more in the environmental permitting series:

• Arizona
• Iowa
• New York
• Colorado
• Virginia