North Carolina’s deregulatory approach to environmental permitting reform
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A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report highlights North Carolina’s commitment to significantly reforming its environmental permitting system. The reforms, which focused on accelerating project approvals and reducing bureaucratic delays, were introduced through changes to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and the state’s Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) permit toolbox.
By reducing the number of permits that required SEPA review and imposing strict timelines on local governments to issue permit decisions, North Carolina has created pathways for applicants to bypass regulatory red tape and complete projects in a timely manner.
Key reforms listed in the report include:
- SEPA’s overhauls in 2010 and 2015 which limited the scope of SEPA’s regulatory review;
- The establishment of the North Carolina DEQ’s permit toolbox that assists applicants in the permitting process, and;
- The development of “slot clocks” for building permits, which creates a set timeframe for permit approvals and encourages process transparency between applicants and officials.
The effectiveness of North Carolina’s reforms will be put to the test through rebuilding efforts after the destruction of Hurricane Helene. “The governor and state legislature should monitor the situation closely and look carefully at regulations that could be waived to speed up reconstruction efforts rather than allowing bureaucratic buzzer beaters,” said CEI senior fellow and report author James Broughel.
Read the full report on CEI.org: Basketball vs. Bureaucracy: North Carolina’s swift approach to permitting reform
Read more in the environmental permitting series: