Funding Nature Not Paperwork 2.0: A Synthesis of Permitting Issues, Reforms, and a Strategy for Moving Forward

At the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), our goal is to advance ecological restoration at scale. However, the landmark environmental laws adopted over 50 years ago are now impeding efforts to restore degraded habitats and implement nature based solutions (NBS) for resilience to extreme weather events that communities across the nation are facing. Permitting and reviews can take years and burn through up to 1/3 of a project’s budget. We need money to go to Nature, not Paperwork. Here we synthesize common sources of delays, permit reforms and examples that have provided efficiencies for restoration projects. Scroll down for our companion resources.

Decision makers and influencers can use this resource to identify the underlying source of permit delays, and consider how to direct future policy, programmatic and technological reforms for permitting.

EPIC now has a suite of resources to help decision makers and influencers understand pathways to speed permitting for restoration projects. 

Dec 2024 1-page case study of Virginia’s Permitting Enhancement and Evaluation Platform (PEEP). Amongst the dozens of policy and tech efforts we’ve tracked, PEEP is a gold star example of the potential of technology to dramatically shorten permit backlogs, with a 70% improvement in processing times reported.

Jan 2024 4-page 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.

Our continuously-updated database of permit streamlining policies and programs - with 86 entries as of Jan 2025.