In late January 2016, the E-Enterprise ePermitting Scoping Team finalized its report entitled, Surveying and Assessing State Use of Electronic Permitting Systems.

The E-Enterprise Leadership Council assembled an ePermitting Scoping Team in spring 2015, led by Mary Walker, Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and David Nicholas, EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management. The Team included members from nine States and EPA’s permitting program offices.

With input from the Team, EPA conducted an initial review of key literature and existing studies. Georgia EPD led a State survey effort with supplemental interviews of State agency staff. Research examined States’ current (“as is”) use of electronic systems across air, water, and waste permitting programs; the extent to which systems support different functionalities; and specific, self-reported system features, costs, limitations, and barriers to expansion.

The report describes the current ePermitting landscape; offers insight into how States are planning for and implementing ePermitting systems; outlines the barriers to broader adoption of these critical systems; and examines options for assessing and documenting costs and benefits and return on investment for ePermitting projects.

For more information, please contact ECOS’ Owen McAleer at omcaleer [at] ecos.org or EPA’s Leslie Cronkhite at cronkhite.leslie [at] epa.gov.

Owen McAleer
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4922
E: omcaleer [at] ecos.org