It’s that time of the year again – you have a permitting project and you need to engage your local, state or federal environmental permitting agency. Maybe you have an exciting new facility expansion project or maybe it’s just time to reissue that old, expiring permit. Either way, this is probably not your favorite aspect of the job, and you might be running through a range of emotions from minor inconvenience to deep dread. For many folks, this is as stressful as your job gets – but it doesn’t have to be. With a better understanding of the people, some insight into the process, and the right support, your environmental permitting project能够顺利运行。在这篇博客中，我万博app手机版官网下载们将探索您可以采取的一些挑战和行动来减少与您的许可机构合作并简化允许流程的压力。
First, it’s always helpful to understand some basic “truths” about permitting agencies, staff and processes:
- 首先，监管机构通常从比你略有不同的角度工作。当然，他们关心支持您和您的业务，但他们也在努力预测和管理这些政治压力，公共利益，改变当地，国家和联邦法律和政策以及更广泛的优先事项和一致性问题。它有时会觉得允许的代理商正在拖动它的脚，但是，从一个机构的角度来看，这些是可以在此过程中延迟延迟许可的问题，如果没有在此过程中妥善管理。
Your assigned permit writer may or may not be an “expert”. Just like nearly every organization, a permitting agency typically has a wide variety of staff with different experiences, knowledge and abilities. Permitting agencies are training new staff constantly to fill the gaps left by staff departures. The training process can often take a few years and, in the meantime, it is likely that you will be working with a permit writer who is still learning the regulations, permitting processes and your specific permit. And even if you do get a more seasoned permitting writer, keep in mind that their expertise is in environmental regulation and permitwriting。经验丰富的许可证作家通常在整个类型的数百种许可证上工作：市政设施，发电，纸张加工，采矿，制造业......您称之为。这意味着他们可能会对很多设施都有一点（或有时相当多！），但它们不是所有移动部位的运营专家yourbusiness. That’s simply not what they are trained to do.
- 代理人员通常在挑战过程和优先事项下工作。预算紧张。它们可能倒在一个位置（或十几个），他们可能没有最好的工具（例如：软件/硬件）可以购买。此外，员工通常是杂耍多个项目，您的许可证可能不是他们的首要任务。
At this point, you may be feeling even more confused and disheartened with the possibility that your permit has any chance of being issued within what you consider a reasonable time frame. But, take heart, there are some things you can do to really improve your chances of having a faster and smoother permitting experience:
- Identify your regulatory agency’s permit team right away. Not only your “point” permit writer but also the leadership and supporting staff such as engineers, hydrologists, soil scientists, compliance person, etc. Knowing all the players will help you anticipate needs and identify potential roadblocks.
- Understand your regulatory agency team members’ “style”. Find out how they want to connect with you and your team:
- Do they prefer to have all the project information at once or a more iterative process?
- 他们喜欢面对面的会议或视频会议吗？
- Do they want a pre-application meeting at your facility to better understand the project?
- Should you schedule weekly check-in meetings or will they get back to you with updates?
These are just a few of the many questions that should get answered right away. Everybody is different and understanding your agency staff’s unique style can get the project started “on the right foot” by clarifying expectations, minimizing misunderstandings and building positive relationships.
- Plan on investing in those relationships with agency staff. It may feel like additional time (that you probably don’t feel like you have!), but good relationships, built on trust and open communication, will really pay off down the road when your project inevitably runs into a snag or two. Be intentional. It sometimes helps to think of agency staff as members ofyour团队因为，毕竟他们是。
- Help your agency team understand your operation. Because they are not experts in your facility and process it is worth your time to ensure that the agency team understands your process, equipment, and day-to-day operations. In the absence of information, most agency staff will make conservative assumptions that may or may not be representative of your facility and you may end up with overly burdensome requirements.
- 最后，得到正确的支持。我们都知道复杂的问题通常需要专家。对于许多允许的项目而言，这并不不同。找到合适的顾问可以真正帮助您允许的项目运行更顺畅并更快。除了在规定的专家外，最好的顾问已经知道该机构包括“内幕”流程和人民。他们花了几年与代理人员的积极关系，他们的洞察力可以真正为您的下一个允许项目提供跳跃开始。这些类型的“关系 - 建设”经验通常被受监管缔约方忽视，因为他们考虑了顾问的资格。这是不幸的，因为它有时是允许项目成功的最重要因素。
Braun Intertec consultants can help with your project needs and assist you in your working relationship with your regulatory agencies. Register for our webinar on January 28th, where environmental professionals,杰夫史密斯和詹妮弗亚当斯will cover how to strategically build these relationships to reduce your regulatory burden and yield better project results.