Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Thursday announced a plan to speed up the permit process for developers, but critics worried haste could backfire. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
New Jersey officials opened applications Thursday for a pilot program intended to speed up the state’s permitting processes for energy, commercial, and multi-family residential development.
A public permitting dashboard will launch later this year after officials iron out any problems during a pilot that’s set to start in June, officials said.
Once the dashboard is fully operational, people seeking permits from the state Departments of Environmental Protection, Transportation, and Community Affairs will be able to see their permit applications’ status, due dates, and next steps. The state will randomly accept 10 projects for the pilot, with applications open until May 21.
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Gov. Mikie Sherrill discussed the dashboard — one of her campaign promises — on her 100th day in office at a news conference Thursday at the state Department of Environmental Protection offices in Trenton.
“For too long, I’ve heard the same thing from so many of our businesses — it’s just too hard to do business in this state. Permitting is too slow. Licensing is a black box. Projects fail simply because they can’t afford the uncertainty or the wait,” Sherrill said. “Every year of delay can increase costs by 10%, and that has a ripple effect, making everything from a mortgage to an electric bill to groceries more expensive. We can’t let that happen.”
Besides the dashboard, state officials plan to hire more staff and upgrade technology to cut permit backlogs, expedite permitting decisions, make the process more transparent, and better coordinate projects that need several permits across multiple state agencies.
Officials gave the initiative a zippy acronym — Operation FAST — for its far clunkier full name, Facilitated Approvals for Sustainable Transformation.
A parade of public officials joined Sherrill to applaud the effort, including Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), who has experience applying for state permits as an engineer and planner at a highway construction firm.
“If we could get to the word ‘yes’ just a little bit quicker and through this pilot dashboard of transparency,” he said, “it will save our investors and those who want to do business in the state of New Jersey a lot of time and some money.”
The plan did prompt some concerns, though, with some noting the irony that an initiative intended to speed up permitting remains many months away from being fully operational.
Assemblyman Gerald Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth), who sits on the Assembly’s environment committee, welcomed a faster permit process, but said a “happy medium” is needed to ensure projects get thoroughly reviewed.
“One of the big knocks against New Jersey, in general, one of the reasons that we’re either number 49 or 50 year after the year in business climate, is the length of time it takes for permits to be approved,” he said.
CNBC ranked New Jersey 49th last year for “business friendliness.”
Jeff Tittel, a longtime environmental activist in New Jersey, warned the dashboard could backfire by turning the state Department of Environmental Protection from an environmental watchdog into “a permit mill” and “concierge service for corporations.”
“You cannot fast-track wetlands permits. You cannot rush flood hazard approvals while neighborhoods are already drowning from stronger storms, sea-level rise, and repeated flooding. You cannot speed through reviews for pipelines, power plants, data centers, warehouses, ICE facilities, and overdevelopment without serious consequences,” Tittel said.
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