Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak today announced a new effort to streamline permitting timelines for projects that restore the state’s environmental resources and reduce the backlog in applications needed for the remediation of contaminated sites.
The Commissioner’s announcement follows Governor Mikie Sherrill’s progress report on government-wide efficiencies earlier this week. The initiatives are part of the DEP’s Operation FAST (Facilitated Approvals for Sustainable Transformation) and directly support the Governor’s mission to deliver a more responsive and effective government.
Specifically, under the umbrella of Operation FAST, the DEP is placing permitting for environmental restoration projects that restore and connect wildlife habitats, remove antiquated dams to restore fish passage, acquire and preserve land, and provide nature-based solutions to climate impacts.
“Through Operation FAST, DEP is advancing economic growth through better government while maintaining our nation-leading standards for protection of our natural resources and public health,” Commissioner Potosnak said. “These efforts will help projects that improve our quality of life move forward more quickly so they can provide real benefits to our state.”
In addition to these efforts, the DEP has reduced its backlog of Remedial Action Permits (RAP) by 25 percent. These permits are key to ensuring remedial actions at contaminated sites remain protective of public health and safety and the environment.
DEP’s Operation FAST is a comprehensive, agency-wide effort that implements concrete, achievable efficiencies to fulfill the Governor’s “Saving You Time & Money Agenda” and her executive orders addressing the state’s affordability crisis.
Its goals are to reduce delays in permit approvals, especially for clean energy and infrastructure projects, through staffing increases, procedural reform, and digital tools, including a shared permitting dashboard.
As one of the first initiatives under Operation FAST, the DEP implemented an application-review “blitz” and other operational efficiency improvements to reduce the backlog of applications for Freshwater Wetland Letters of Interpretation.
A letter of interpretation is issued by the DEP prior to the initiation of a development project to indicate the presence or absence of freshwater wetlands and their transition areas, or buffers. Efficient processing of letters of interpretation provides applicants with certainty and minimizes stranded costs that can impact job creation, economic growth and community ratables associated with development projects.
Since January, the DEP reduced the Freshwater Wetlands Letter of Interpretation backlog by 74 percent.
Environmental Restoration Projects
The DEP is now integrating reviews of environmental restoration projects into Operation FAST. This will strategically prioritize and shorten permitting timelines for these projects, bringing efficiency and predictability to project sponsors and lowering planning and permitting costs.
Environmental restoration projects are those that restore or enhance habitat for fish and wildlife, improve water quality, advance resilience, offset climate impacts, and address flooding impacts through building natural features, nature-based solutions, or creation of natural areas with vegetation and infrastructure appropriate to restore ecological conditions at a site.
“The DEP’s goal by integrating permitting for these projects under Operation FAST is to return disturbed ecosystems to productive ecological conditions more quickly,” said DEP Deputy Commissioner Joseph Seebode. “Through these efficiencies, we will realize quicker restoration of habitat needed by wildlife, greater biodiversity, improved water quality, enhanced flood storage through protection of natural lands, and more resilient communities through natural shoreline protection.”
RAPs and Contaminated Sites
Remedial Action Permits (RAPs) are issued when a site has undergone remediation for soil, groundwater or indoor air contamination, but contamination remains above applicable standards. They outline long-term regulatory controls (such as Deed Notices for soil) and, in some cases, engineering controls (i.e., a cap for soil).
To reduce the backlog, the DEP launched a Rapid Inspection Program to expedite document inspections immediately after applications are submitted, granted remedial timeframe extensions and implemented an enhanced peer review process. The DEP also revamped the technical consultation process to resolve site-specific technical questions.
The effort to reduce the backlog of RAP applications is ongoing. The DEP encourages remediating parties to request a Technical Consultation. By addressing technical issues proactively, applications move through the review process more quickly and reduce the overall backlog.
Stakeholder Quotes
“We applaud Governor Sherrill and NJDEP for recognizing that protecting our environment requires not only strong regulations, but also an efficient permitting process that allows important restoration work to move forward,” said Eileen Murphy, Executive Director of the Musconetcong Watershed Association. “We have experienced firsthand the consequences of lengthy permitting delays. In some cases, projects designed to improve water quality and restore natural resources were held up for so long that grant funding expired and the projects had to be abandoned. Operation FAST represents an important step toward removing these barriers. By improving coordination, increasing transparency, and reducing unnecessary delays, NJDEP can help ensure that public and private investments in environmental restoration translate into actual improvements on the ground.”
“The Nature Conservancy applauds NJDEP’s leadership in advancing a more efficient permitting pathway for ecological restoration projects,” said Barbara Brummer, State Director for The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. “By recognizing the significant public benefits these projects provide, from improving water quality and wildlife habitat to reducing flood risks and strengthening community resilience, the Department is helping ensure that critical restoration efforts can move from planning to implementation more quickly and effectively.”
“The reduction in RAPs means one thing for New Jersey: cleaning up contamination – which protects public health and enables responsible redevelopment across the state,” said Rebecca Hollender, LSRP, President of Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association. “The LSRPA is encouraged by this momentum and applauds the DEP’s ongoing work to reduce the permit backlog.”
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