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Sure thing. And don't hesitate to reach out to a Corps regulator, especially one you've established a rapport with, to get a definitive, local interpretation. I sometimes have consultants call or email me simply asking to discuss some new policy development or interpretation. A lot of regulatory...

EPA and Corps HQ are pretty good about keeping their websites updated (unlike the districts, tbh), so I think it's safe to say that you can rely on that memo, despite it being from back in 2020. Note the comment added to the top of the memo stating "This joint memorandum provides guidance on...

Code.Sys sounds like an interesting company to work for. Welcome aboard! We had our share of stragglers clinging to paper-based workflows right up until the pandemic when everyone started working from home. As an organization we began requiring 100% electronic submittals at that point, and it...

Welcome RavenGirl, so happy to have you aboard! As you know, aquatic resource regulations/permitting is my bread and butter. I look forward to chatting with you about any interesting PNW wetland delineation/permitting situations you're running into. On a related note, hope you'll keep us posted...

I Googled "Arizona room" and looks like there are plenty of prefab options. Is it one of those, or is it a custom design/build? I don't do building permitting, but I would think prefab would have more predictable elements as far as code compliance goes. Is the structure fully enclosed and would...

That's incredible you were the one who established this program! (and sorry for just noticing this thread from a couple months ago...) At the Corps, we try to do the same kind of thing through our regional/nationwide permits but when it comes to WOTUS impacts I feel like we generally have too...

Gotcha. I can imagine needing a little more height in the city, where you're more likely to have numerous neighboring apartments/residences around you, not to mention noise. I'm in a suburban tract development with lower population density...for me, going above 6 feet wouldn't add much, if...

In San Marcos, CA, where I'm at, fences up to 6 feet in height don't require permitting. My neighbor and I hired a contractor to replace our shared fence this summer and went with a 6-foot vinyl fence, no permitting necessary. Interesting to hear that LA is a bit less restrictive with the...

Thanks for sharing. We always share food items too. I like the idea of raffling off the anonymous gift card. I think making the recipient completely random should be enough to eliminate potential appearances of influence peddling. Might take the staff who originally received the money out of the...

Have any permitting staff out there ever received gifts, e.g., from appreciative permittees? How does your office handle this situation? Me and a coworker recently each received anonymous $50 Visa gift cards with unsigned thank you/greeting cards. Our Office of Counsel thinks we might be able...

Good call. In addition to wasting government resources, I think blanket requirements for process steps that aren't meaningful/worthwhile can be demoralizing for staff, e.g., meetings that staff know probably aren't going to go anywhere. The whole enterprise of government works best when you have...

It probably doesn't say explicitly in any of the source material (i.e., the ICC codes listed above). Or maybe this is determined at the local level. In these situations, to help train the GPT, it would probably be best if someone fully knowledgeable of the answer added the correct response to...

These GPTs draw from the codes on the ICC site (listed above), in addition to other sources such as local jurisdiction websites and other codes/amendments a jurisdiction may be operating under. Washington State has state-required codes, in addition to local amendments, so the state-level GPT on...

That would actually be a really good idea for my in-laws. They put in solar several years ago and installed way more capacity than they need. So right now they're basically generating gobs of excess energy credits with the utility that they don't get any financial benefit from. An all-electric...

That's awesome. Sounds like a lot of fun where you work!

Thanks for the Halloween post! Our office is still mostly teleworking, and I work out of a short-staffed field office, so I don't get to enjoy much by way of Halloween festivities at work these days. However, we live in a bigtime Halloween neighborhood and are preparing to host a Halloween party...

Congrats on the new system! Earlier this year, Corps Regulatory launched its Regulatory Request System (RRS). It's a great leap forward but I think is still kind of rough around the edges, e.g., in terms of all the educational info they're trying to integrate. I think the trickiest thing about...

Thanks Inspector Parker. The Los Angeles Building Codes GPT is now available here: https://www.permittingtalk.com/threads/los-angeles-building-codes.5551/ Care to test it out and let me know what you think? If you identify any other authoritative documents (code, webpages, or other...

I increased the maximum attachment size to 100mb (was 30mb). Want to try it again?

Sure, that works, thanks. I'm just sorry you have to go through the trouble! After you send the PDFs I can run OCR scan in Adobe to ensure the text is searchable for the GPT.