Emilie Munson
The head of the state’s environmental agency has a message for business: She wants to make it faster and simpler to get permits and comply with regulations protecting Connecticut’s air, water and soil.
Speaking to 220 business leaders, lawyers, lobbyists and consultants on Thursday, Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, presented a new “20 by 20” initiative — 20 goals her agency will accomplish over the next 18 months.
These are not rollbacks of environmental protections. Rather they are proposals to improve bureaucracy and make it easier for companies to comply with state oversight. By making the agency more productive, Connecticut may see more enforcement of environmental rules, Dykes said.
“We have so much progress that we can make in improving the predictability, efficiency and transparency of our regulatory processes,” Dykes said. “That is what is driving our efforts.”
Michael Polo, president of Manchester-based aerospace manufacturer ACMT Inc., described his own difficult relationship with DEEP — one that sometimes boxed him and other companies out of opportunities, he said.
“Working with them has been very slow,” Polo said. “We wouldn’t even look into doing anything to do with chemicals here because it is way too difficult.”
Although it employs consultants to help with environmental regulations, ACMT once decided not to purchase a new facility in Connecticut because the permitting process would take years, Polo said. Meanwhile, in Florida, where ACMT has part of his operation, permits are guaranteed a look in about two weeks under a fast-pass process, he said.
“It is unbelievable how easy it is,” he said. “It’s more of a conversation than it is a ruling, so it is much more collaborative.”
Taking a small step in that direction, Dykes laid out 16 of the Connecticut environmental agency’s goals on Wednesday, such as publishing permitting time frames to the web, giving companies better technical assistance before they apply for permits and moving more applications online. She plans to put more of her agency’s environmental data online and develop predictable timetables for adopting new regulations. They will look at possibly consolidating some types of permits and eliminating some types of permits, too.
The agency will crowdsource from businesses and the public the last four goals.
Her presentation acknowledged that DEEP may have a long way to go to be truly business-friendly: one category of permits has 1,200 pending applications, she said.
“Soliciting input from the regulated community is positive,” he added.
But Connecticut companies still struggle under burdensome, time-consuming permit processes when they want to open in a new location or add a new product, he said. That can hinder the rapid pace of innovation. And it is unlikely to disappear, even with a solid dose of agency streamlining, he said.
Dykes spoke to the CBIA’s Energy and Environment conference at the Red Lion Hotel in Cromwell on Thursday. She contrasted her approach to that of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump.
“When you have a federal government that is retreating from its environmental obligations, that is in denial about the impacts of climate change, what it is doing is holding back investment,” she said. “What we think builds our competitive economic advantage for the state of Connecticut is having that sound environmental quality, that clean and healthy environment that makes people want to live here, that makes people want to grow and expand jobs here.”
Dykes was nominated to lead the DEEP by Gov. Ned Lamont in November, before he took office. She chaired the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority under former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Lamont, like Malloy, is pressing to make government more user-friendly by cutting back some regulations and bureaucracy to help residents and, especially, businesses. That means changes at the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Administrative Services and now Energy and Environmental Protection.
Lamont championed legislation to reduce residents trips to the DMV by extending the life of drivers licenses — a change that was approved by the General Assembly last week.
In April, Lamont proposed several ideas to slash the state’s red tape. The state Department of Administrative Services is making several procedural changes including creating a state certification for small businesses copying the federal process and updating state data processing to allow more online bidding for state contracts.
During his administration, Malloy also took many strides to reduce some regulations with the goal of helping businesses, saving the state money and reducing the workload for government staff, which shrunk by about 1,000 workers during his administration. In 2014, he signed legislation eliminating nearly 1,000 pages of state regulations his office deemed unnecessary.
Confirmation is still needed from state officials on whether they will reimburse the project. Reimbursements are typically about 80%.
The vote was taken during a special meeting at City Hall Wednesday night, before the council’s regular meeting.
Benefiting from the money will be Chamberlain Elementary School and Slade and Pulaski middle schools.
“Chamberlain is a beautiful old school, but in need of many resources and renovations,” said Principal Jane Perez during public participation. “We have often a leaky roof problem. … There is no air conditioning; that’s a big problem because the second floor often gets up to 90 and 100 (degrees) and it’s very hard to continue in a learning environment when both the students and the teachers are in distress because of the heat. We also have issues with leaky roofs and ceiling tiles falling and many other things.”
The largest part of the bond will be dedicated to Chamberlain, addressing deficiencies including site safety issues and code compliance. The plans also include modern technology equipment in all instructional spaces, such as mobile computer carts, wireless access points, computer labs and interactive white boards.
An outdated portable building, which housed four classrooms, will be demolished and the classrooms incorporated into the main building, while an addition will create more space for a school-based health center and a family resource center, according to a release.
The estimated cost for the renovations at Chamberlain is $49 million.
Slade and Pulaski middle schools were selected for roofing projects at an estimated cost of $3 million per school. The remaining $2 million will be put toward temporary classroom space and financing costs.
“I’m proud to support this additional, substantial investment in our schools and children,” Mayor Erin Stewart said Thursday. “It is important that our children are provided with a safe and adequate learning environment. A special thank you also to state Rep. Robert Sanchez, co-chair of the Education Committee, for helping us make repairs to our aging infrastructure.”
The vote was taken during a special meeting at City Hall Wednesday night, before the council’s regular meeting.
Benefiting from the money will be Chamberlain Elementary School and Slade and Pulaski middle schools.
“Chamberlain is a beautiful old school, but in need of many resources and renovations,” said Principal Jane Perez during public participation. “We have often a leaky roof problem. … There is no air conditioning; that’s a big problem because the second floor often gets up to 90 and 100 (degrees) and it’s very hard to continue in a learning environment when both the students and the teachers are in distress because of the heat. We also have issues with leaky roofs and ceiling tiles falling and many other things.”
The largest part of the bond will be dedicated to Chamberlain, addressing deficiencies including site safety issues and code compliance. The plans also include modern technology equipment in all instructional spaces, such as mobile computer carts, wireless access points, computer labs and interactive white boards.
An outdated portable building, which housed four classrooms, will be demolished and the classrooms incorporated into the main building, while an addition will create more space for a school-based health center and a family resource center, according to a release.
The estimated cost for the renovations at Chamberlain is $49 million.
Slade and Pulaski middle schools were selected for roofing projects at an estimated cost of $3 million per school. The remaining $2 million will be put toward temporary classroom space and financing costs.
“I’m proud to support this additional, substantial investment in our schools and children,” Mayor Erin Stewart said Thursday. “It is important that our children are provided with a safe and adequate learning environment. A special thank you also to state Rep. Robert Sanchez, co-chair of the Education Committee, for helping us make repairs to our aging infrastructure.”