California Representatives Katie Porter and Doug LaMalfa Propose Bill to Streamline Permitting Process

[Debashis]

Exciting News: Streamlined Federal Land Permitting on the Horizon!

If you're in the process of obtaining permits for activities on federal lands, we have some fantastic news to share. California Representatives Katie Porter and Doug LaMalfa have joined forces to introduce a groundbreaking bipartisan bill called the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act. This legislation is set to revolutionize the Department of Interior's permitting procedures, bringing in efficiency and transparency.

The Electronic Permitting Modernization Act proposes a comprehensive digital transformation of the permitting system. It envisions consolidating all permits onto a single user-friendly webpage, simplifying access to information and the acquisition of necessary permissions. This move is designed to promote transparency and accountability, breaking free from the bureaucratic hurdles that have historically plagued the process.

This initiative is part of a larger-scale effort to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of government services. To delve deeper into this exciting development, we encourage you to explore the full article here.

 

[Eric]

Thanks for this passing this along, @Debashis. I'm just wondering how this plan is supposed to work considering we already have Recreation.gov, which is already very modern and provides the same sort of one-stop shop for DOI recreational permits as envisioned by the proposed bill. For example, on Recreation.gov you can obtain permits for hiking, climbing, and hunting on lands managed by DOI agencies (e.g., National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation) as well as non-DOI agencies (e.g., U.S. Forest Service) all on the same website. I fully support the spirit of what they're trying to do, but it would be unfortunate if Rep. Porter and LaMalfa's bill were proposing to reorganize Receration.gov such that all DOI recreational permits were moved to a different DOI-only site.

 

[Nomad]

I think a bill like the Electronic Permitting Modernization Act was very necessary as there was a growing demand to move to online permitting and ditch the offline permitting process. Offline permitting not only increases costs for the people but also gives extra workload to the officials. I believe the government services need to be thoroughly modernized, and I hope this new bill will pave the road for similar bills when it comes to obtaining various kinds of permits.