Louisiana’s market-based approach to permitting reform: CEI report
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A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report analyzes Louisiana’s progress in reforming its environmental permitting system. Efforts to reform permitting in Louisiana include the establishment of the Expedited Permit Program, which allows applicants to pay for state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) employees’ overtime costs associated with processing permits.
By utilizing a market-based approach to reform, Louisiana has created an opportunity for applicants to avoid regulatory red tape in the permitting process and help businesses develop faster.
“The program has the potential to reduce regulatory bottlenecks and promote economic growth,” CEI senior fellow and report author James Broughel says. “However, the effectiveness of the program has yet to be studied in detail.”
Further reforms suggested in the report include:
- Conduct long-term studies of the expedited program’s impact on permitting times, environmental protection, and economic development in Louisiana;
- Introduce a tired system of fees by which all applicants, no matter their financial situation, could benefit from the program’s market-based framework, and;
- Add attached deadlines to specific permit types, which allows for greater transparency and helps the state’s permitting system adapt to evolving needs.
Read the report on CEI.org: Mardi Gras for Permits: Louisiana’s expedited permit program
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