Introduction: In January, 2007,
the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP or Department)
adopted its “Policy Priorities
and Action Plan” document which outlines the strategic
direction of the agency over the next three years. The Plan
identifies eight broad goal areas and underlying objectives.
One of the eight goal areas is “Efficient Service,” which
is focused on ensuring “timely, inclusive and efficient
service to New Jersey residents and the regulated community.” One
specific objective under this goal is to “Develop uniform
procedures for major permit reviews to streamline the process
and provide better assistance to applicants.”
Improving
business practices has long been a focus area within the Department
and will remain so toward a philosophy of continuous improvement.
However, it is fair to say that the Department has historically
been in more of a “reactive” mode, primarily processing
permit applications only as they were submitted, as opposed
to a more “proactive” or “strategic” mode
in helping to guide development and redevelopment from an environmental
perspective. This was partially the case due to limitations
in our ability to combine data on environmental factors using
the appropriate information technology systems. The Department’s
extensive efforts in the advancement of information technology
systems, such as through NJEMS, i-MapNJ, Data Miner, ENDEX
and GIS now provide us with unprecedented opportunities to
share information and review it in an integrated and strategic
manner.
What is the “Readiness Checklist?” The
Readiness Checklist (formerly “scorecard”) initiative
is a business practice improvement to help applicants and Department
program staff/managers to better understand project readiness.
Use of the readiness checklist will help identify, before the
start of the regulatory process, if a planned project is ready
for detailed review by the Department and to identify regulatory
issues that may need to be addressed. In addition to framing
the project site (lot and block information, acreage, topographic
mapping), the checklist will address project ownership, local
zoning consistency, water supply, wastewater capacity, the
need for additional internal and external governmental approvals,
and proposed environmental enhancements.
The checklist is organized
into a series of questions that help to identify project readiness.
A “score” is not actually tabulated, but the identification
of regulatory consistency issues will help the applicant and
the Department to determine, before a proposed project is submitted
to DEP for review, whether the project will easily meet DEP
technical and policy requirements, or if it will require a
more complicated review and/or project modifications.
In addition
to business practice improvement, the Readiness Checklist provides
the opportunity to encourage and facilitate environmentally
sustainable projects. Projects are asked to voluntarily identify
and propose innovative and beyond compliance environmental
enhancements such as high performance and/or green building
design, open space preservation and/or restoration of natural
resources. The Readiness Checklist is intended to facilitate
environmentally sustainable projects in locations with existing
or readily available infrastructure capacity that lack natural
resource constraints. In many cases this will be redevelopment
and/or brownfield projects. Use of the Readiness Checklist
by the Department will not result in a reduction of minimum
program standards but rather a more comprehensive and progressive
approach to environmental protection .
The version of the Readiness
Checklist currently posted is still considered draft and continues
to be modified as it is vetted within the Department and piloted
on project proposals. It is hoped that the Readiness Checklist
can be implemented for all major projects within Calendar Year ’07.
Upon implementation, all major projects submitted to any DEP
program may voluntarily complete the Readiness Checklist and
schedule a pre-application meeting as appropriate.
Full implementation
will integrate the Readiness Checklist information with DEP’s
enterprise data systems, NJEMS and iMapNJ DEP, providing a
tool that “automates” project information for the
applicant and helps inform both the micro regulatory process
between DEP program areas and macro Statewide environmental
planning. Information technology enhancements should be available
later in the year.
At this time we are sharing the draft version
of the Readiness Checklist with you for input to assist us
in finalizing the tool prior to implementation.
For further
information or to send us your comments, please contact Liz
Semple, Manager, Office of Planning and Sustainable Communities
at 609-292-1997 or submit your comments in writing to
readiness@dep.state.nj.us. |
