California’s ambitious restoration plans, which include reactivating floodplains, enhancing species habitats, and fortifying against climate change, are at a critical juncture. With a surge in restoration demands and new funding opportunities, agencies must prepare to handle a growing number of permitting processes. To fully capitalize on these opportunities, a new report from Sustainable Conservation underscores the urgent need for the state to establish efficient and effective restoration permitting processes that align with its habitat and climate goals.
The white paper “Accelerating Restoration in the Sacramento Valley and Beyond” evaluates the current regulatory landscape and offers practical suggestions to enhance the use of existing expedited permitting pathways, promote coordinated permitting initiatives, broaden effective programs, and address regulatory and institutional gaps to better meet the needs of ecosystems and stakeholders in restoration efforts.
Permitting for habitat restoration projects is complex and costly, involving approvals from six or more state, federal, and local agencies. Restoration projects frequently have to use standard permitting mechanisms intended for development, such as shopping centers or subdivisions, rather than being designed for restoration projects. As such, these traditional permitting processes often fail to address restoration-related conditions or outcomes and sometimes even face compensatory mitigation requirements. So, it is crucial to put restoration on a separate regulatory path that uses efficient and specialized permitting tools.
Existing programs have been shown to reduce costs and processing time. In 2022-23, the Natural Resource Agency’s Cutting the Green Tape initiative saved the Department of Fish & Wildlife an estimated $2.5 million in permitting costs and reduced processing time to an average of 45 days for permit issuance. A similar streamlining program from the NOAA Restoration Center has saved an estimated $6.8-$17.6 million in staff time and consultant fees for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Army Corps, and project proponents combined.
What makes an efficient permitting process for restoration? It depends on the role of whom you ask, but in general, efficient permitting avoids redundancy and duplication of work, aligns environmental standards across agencies, is specific to habitat restoration, simplifies the application process, streamlines technical data, and reduces processing time and costs.
FINDINGS
Through interviews with environmental consulting firms, nonprofits, regulators, California Tribes, private landowners, agriculture, and networks/associations, several key themes emerged:
- Accelerated restoration-specific permitting pathways are essential, especially when coordinated across multiple agencies. This simplifies processes, reduces administrative burdens, saves money, and speeds up project approvals. These include Programmatic General Permits, Restoration Management Permits, and Programmatic Biological Opinions.
- Strategic leadership empowers agency staff to embrace new and innovative approaches. An example would be the Cutting Green Tape initiative, led by Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, who guided agency staff and clarified policies to reduce permitting burdens for restoration projects. The white paper notes that the Cutting Green Tape Initiative ‘showcases the transformative effect of proactive leadership in streamlining regulatory practices and enhancing restoration outcomes.’
- Restoration-specific regulatory programs improve efficiency. Interviewees said that having teams dedicated to restoration makes the permitting process more predictable for applicants, and integrating funding, technical assistance, and permitting into one program is a model for accelerating restoration and leveraging partnerships.
- Inconsistencies and gaps remain in implementation and permitting. Ongoing challenges include inconsistent interpretation of regulatory requirements and variability in awareness and understanding of available efficient permitting tools. Project proponents seek more consistent and proactive use of existing restoration-specific permitting tools, expansion of successful pathways and programs, and creation of new pathways or efficiencies to fill gaps. Proponents also advocate for more regulatory certainty and the resolution of persistent policy and funding challenges to prevent delays, increased costs, and setbacks in achieving environmental benefits.
- Need for increased agency capacity and project proponent engagement. Significant capacity challenges exist due to limited staffing and turnover, which can lead to fewer resources and delays in processing applications. Expanding staff capacity and increasing training is essential, as is early and consistent engagement with agency staff by project applicants.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The white paper’s recommendations are designed to inform actions by both state and federal agency decision-makers and other policy leaders to further advance key environmental initiatives. The recommendations are organized into five key strategies:
- Facilitate Proactive Use of Efficient Restoration Permitting Pathways Statewide. Develop ongoing training and guidance for agency staff and applicants to ensure consistent use of efficient permitting pathways. Promote early engagement from project proponents to foster collaboration and efficient permitting. The white paper also points out the need for effective guidance and training on conducting Tribal consultation processes, to ensure meaningful consultation with Tribes that meets legal requirements and does not duplicate actions or tax Tribal resources.
- Create Dedicated Restoration Teams Within All Regulatory Agencies. Use models like the CDFW Cutting Green Tape program to create dedicated teams within all regulatory agencies to efficiently permit and fund restoration projects. This approach establishes a consistent regulatory pathway that guides applicants to meet agency expectations, reduces administrative burdens, avoids duplicated efforts, and speeds up staff review.
- Expand Successful Accelerated Restoration Permitting Pathways. Expanding accelerated restoration permitting regulatory pathways, which have demonstrated substantial time and resource savings, can be accomplished more quickly than developing new pathways, allowing more restoration projects to take advantage of efficient permitting options.
- Create New Restoration Pathways or Efficiencies Where Gaps Exist. Develop new restoration pathways or efficiencies to address gaps in the current regulatory framework.
- Advance Solutions to Ongoing Restoration Challenges. Foster dialogue and collaboration among agency leaders and project implementers to develop effective solutions to regulatory, funding, and organizational challenges.
The white paper acknowledges the progress made so far, attributing it to the power of collaborative efforts by restoration project proponents, agency officials, California Tribes, environmental organizations, and communities, and calls for agency leadership to create a sustainable framework that accelerates restoration in the Sacramento River Basin and statewide.
“Proactive ecological restoration is far more effective than reactive approaches to climate-related disasters, which often result in higher costs, greater environmental damage, and the need for complex permitting solutions. With more proactive measures in place, we can anticipate and mitigate potential issues–ultimately leading to more resilient and enduring restoration outcomes. By strengthening partnerships, streamlining processes, and committing to ongoing innovation, we can create a regulatory environment that meets California’s ecological restoration needs and sets a global standard for resilience and sustainability.
This is our moment to act decisively. Together, we can ensure that California’s ecosystems are restored and preserved for generations to come.”
