Restoration Permitting
The Problem: Funding for Restoration is Going to Paperwork, not Nature.
Leaders around the globe committed to restoring 30% of the world’s degraded ecosystems (Target 2 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2023 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework). But right now, the costs of permitting burn through up to ⅓ of a restoration project’s budget. We think restoration permits should take less than 1 year to approve.
The Solution: Streamline the Approval Process for Restoration Projects.
Through our work, we are identifying policy and programmatic changes to speed up the approval processes for restoration projects. Restoration projects are fundamentally different from impactful development projects, and regulators should create categorical exemptions, a fast-track path, interagency coordination opportunities, and transparent processes to speed the approval of these projects. Technology can also aid faster processes.
Read our concept note on pathways to speed restoration permitting. The objective of the paper is to showcase eight pathways to speed permitting, along with excerpts from enabling policy text. These examples could be tailored and replicated in other contexts.
For other examples of restoration permit streamlining, check out our interactive database of policies and programs.
EPIC Restoration Permit Streamlining Work
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EPIC created an interactive database of 49 legislation, policies, programs, and case studies that offer new pathways to buying environmental outcomes, and finding ways to reduce delays in permitting environmental restoration projects. The database is a helpful resource for policymakers and agency staff at the state and federal level. The information provides the raw ‘ingredients’ that could be used to replicate Pay for Success and Restoration Permit Streamlining in other contexts. Link to Database.
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In a March 2023 report, EPIC, in collaboration with the Ecological Restoration Business Association (ERBA), revealed persistent delays in the approval of a class of wetland and stream restoration projects called ‘mitigation banks.’ These delays threaten to hinder the availability of offsets for impacted waterways during the coming surge in infrastructure building. Over the years, mitigation banking has fueled billions in investment towards conservation outcomes making it the largest U.S. environmental market for natural resource restoration. The researchers analyzed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) data to see if timelines on mitigation banks were meeting the federally mandated approval time limit of 225 days, and found the average project took 1.5x longer than required “on the regulator’s desk.” The full timeline for project approval - including back and forth between the Corps and applicants - takes over 1,000 days on average (the longest project took over 12 years!).
Follow-on research identified the top bottlenecks in the US Army Corps of Engineers’ review process and highlights dozens of solutions that could be implemented.
The Time it Takes for Restoration: An Analysis of Mitigation Banking Instrument Timelines (also see webinar recording)
The Time it Takes for Restoration: A Qualitative Analysis of Factors that Speed and Slow Mitigation Banking Approval Timelines (includes recommendations for streamlining the approval process, see p.22-29)
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The regulatory process of establishing a conservation bank for state-listed species in California is hindered by inefficiencies and regulatory ‘green tape,’ resulting in delays beyond the state-mandated deadline of 270 days (SB 1148). EPIC launched a research effort to investigate what speeds and slows conservation bank approval timelines, and what ecological and economic consequences come from delayed processes. From an analysis of state agency ‘timestamp’ data of the approval process along with alternate data sources, EPIC identified that the total time to permit a conservation bank by the California Department of Fish and Game is between 761 - 1,740 days. Through a series of informational interviews, EPIC also identified bottlenecks and solutions to accelerate conservation bank approvals.
Conservation Banking in California: A Review of California Department of Fish and Wildlife Approval Timelines and Insights from Stakeholders (includes recommendations for streamlining the approval process, see p.23-26)
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