On October 24, 2011 MassDEP released the framework for a regulatory reform proposal that would streamline environmental permitting and approval processes in Massachusetts. Although the major impetus for these reforms is an effort to apply the agency’s declining resources more efficiently – since 2002 MassDEP’s budget has declined by more than 25 percent and the number of full-time MassDEP employees has declined by 30 percent – new commissioner Ken Kimmell has prioritized reforms that would simultaneously reduce permitting obstacles for environmentally beneficial projects. Several of the reforms outlined would specifically facilitate the development of renewable energy projects by consolidating or streamlining existing permitting requirements.

The proposal identifies, in general terms, twenty-one regulatory changes that MassDEP will seek to implement by next summer. Of particular interest to renewable energy developers, the proposal includes reforms that would reduce and consolidate permitting requirements under the various regulatory programs that currently apply to activities located on or near wetlands, waterways, coastal areas and landfills. Specifically, MassDEP has proposed...