TPEAC: Five Years of Permit Partnerships (2001-2006)
The last meeting of the Transportation Permit Efficiency and Accountability Committee (TPEAC) was held on March 22, 2006. This meeting marked the end of a five-year multi-agency effort to improve environmental permitting for transportation projects. Since beginning in 2001, TPEAC has sought to improve the permitting process for transportation projects while maintaining high standards for environmental protection. TPEAC brought together state legislators, representatives from state and local agencies, tribes, business associations, the construction industry, and environmental and labor interests. TPEAC established several subcommittees to address permit reform solutions for permit streamlining. Working together and sharing perspectives allowed the subcommittees to better understand the complexities of permitting and coordinating issues involved in the successful delivery of transportation projects.
TPEAC Products, Tools and Accomplishments
TPEAC and its technical subcommittees produced important tools to improve the permitting process, including:
- New TPEAC web site
- Multi-agency web tools to coordinate and improve permitting
- Multi-agency programmatic agreements that reduce the cost and time needed to permit routine projects and activities
- A Multi-agency Permit (MAP) Team to enhance coordination between agencies
- Watershed characterization tools that change the way mitigation sites are selected
- Improvements to local government permitting with emphasis on permitting maintenance activities
- Better permit compliance for construction projects
- More training opportunities for WSDOT and partners
- Better communication with tribes.
NEXT STEPS
TPEAC's accomplishments over the last five years have improved transportation project permitting and established shared knowledge and trust among stakeholders. These accomplishments have brought more efficient and effective use of public resources and benefits for transportation and the environment. There is however, a continuing need to maintain effective and productive working relationships, commit to the use of best practices and tools, and to expand and improve upon the work and accomplishments of TPEAC.
The Office of Regulatory Assistance is poised to incorporate TPEAC's programs and ideas into larger, statewide efforts as part of the Governor's Regulatory Improvement Program. The Office of Regulatory Assistance and the agencies of TPEAC will commit to continuing to provide the leadership, support, and direction necessary to:
- Improve mitigation approaches including speeding up approvals of mitigation banks
- Develop and extend multi-agency programmatic permits
- Implement watershed-based mitigation tools and strategies
- Develop performance measures for regulatory work
- Expand and improve web-based permitting tools and information
- Develop and implement a NEPA consultation with Native American tribes
- Reduce duplication between permits issued by different agencies
- Integrate and align planning and permitting
- Implement coordinated permitting tools and strategies, including the use of Multi-Agency Permit (MAP) Teams and Interdisciplinary Project Teams