Counties push to reform federal permitting rules

When people get to Yavapai County, Ariz., chances are they’re itching to hike. The county estimates that 2.2 million of its 3 million annual visitors use its local trails, many of which wander onto federal land.

And like taking a ripe apple off a tree, they’re tempted to pull their car onto the side of the road and blaze their own trail. But that’s the kind of thing that the county, and the federal government, want to avoid. 

Learn more

SPEED Act analysis

“Some trails are getting overused, which means cultural resources are getting diminished because there’s overuse in wilderness areas,” said Yavapai County Supervisor Nikki Check. “The U.S. Forest Service identified this — they’d love to see that roadside parking go away and shift to a more appropriate area for recreation. And the county is willing to go in and do what we can, if it’s adjacent to a road that we maintain.” 

But federal involvement means federal permitting, and that can transform even minor projects into major undertakings. 

“There’s 100 percent agreement on what needs to happen,” Check said about the project, but “instead of applying for a grant to do the work … we are applying for a ‘scoping grant’” to fund an environmental review. “That’s money that could be going to something that is actual and tangible.” 

That issue extends to other projects that would benefit Yavapai County. When federal permits are involved, she adds, it takes up time and money, forcing difficult trade-offs. 

“Dollars are being spent now on scoping instead of being spent on infrastructure,” she said. 

The challenges, however, extend beyond just roads and public lands. Any time a project is supported by federal funding or crosses federal lands, counties must comply with federal permitting requirements, affecting everything from housing to telecommunications infrastructure to roads and bridges. 

Some Yavapai County homeowners want to donate land to the county for a park. The Community Development Block Grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, could help make that happen, but accepting federal funding would trigger an environmental review, and Check says that adds time and uncertainty.

Across the country, county leaders are dealing with the same challenges as Check and Yavapai County. Slow, complex permitting regulations tie up critical projects, driving up costs for taxpayers and delaying improvements that would benefit constituents.

Looping in county leaders from the beginning is one reform that Check says would lead to better outcomes for all. For Yavapai County and others across the United States, the need for county input is particularly acute. The environmental review process gives county leaders the opportunity to provide the county perspective for federal land-use planning, and, as stewards of natural resources, counties support the intent of environmental protection statutes.

As cooperating agencies, counties would have a seat at the table from the very beginning and could provide valuable input on how projects would impact their communities. Check says that this would add an important perspective to federal permitting decisions. 

“It’s that happy middle, where you know enough details about what’s happening and the potential problems and impacts and scope” of projects, she said. 

County leaders are not the only elected officials with permitting reforms on their minds. The issue has been a major topic for the 119th Congress, and NACo is advocating for changes that would streamline federal permitting and permanently bring counties into the decision-making process. Most federal permitting laws have not been meaningfully updated in decades, and permitting reviews can add years to even simple projects.

Already, Congress has considered legislation that would reform the permitting process. The bipartisan SPEED Act (H.R. 4776), led by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), passed the House of Representatives with NACo’s endorsement. The bill would make common-sense reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the most widely invoked federal permitting law, and would codify the county role as a cooperating agency. 

Across the Capitol building, the Senate has been engaged in permitting legislation negotiations and is expected to propose a comprehensive permitting package. 

“As federal permitting reform package negotiations in the Senate progress forward, county leaders should reach out to their Senators to tell how permitting reform will allow them to better deliver infrastructure projects for county residents,” said Charlotte Mitchell Duyshart, NACo associate legislative director for Environment, Energy and Land Use.

Congress doesn’t have to look far to see why permitting reform is necessary. In January, a major Washington, D.C.-area sewer line failed, dumping millions of gallons of wastewater. Investigative reporting from local news outlets revealed that DC Water, the county-owned utility that owned the sewer line, had been trying to repair the pipe for eight years but were delayed by permitting reviews since the pipe crossed federal public lands.

Permitting reform would help deliver projects across the country. As Congress considers comprehensive permitting reform legislation, NACo is urging county leaders to reach out to their representatives and share their county role experiences in federal permitting. 

Check knows exactly how important that role is.

 “Counties are absolutely the best partner to make projects more productive …more effective and more efficient,” she said.