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Chamber Foundation report finds Minnesota air and water permits far slower than peers; recommends faster timelines and greater transparency
Summary
A Minnesota Chamber Foundation study presented to the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee found median issuance times for priority tier 2 air permits measured in hundreds of days, far exceeding state goals and peer-state averages. The report recommends reducing tier 2 timelines, clearing renewal backlogs and increasing transparency.
The Minnesota Chamber Foundation told the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee that significant delays in state environmental permitting are costing the state investment and jobs.
The foundation’s executive director, Jennifer Byers, introduced the study and said the research was intended to add data to a long-running concern from businesses and site selectors that Minnesota’s permitting process discourages investment. “Our flagship report is called Minnesota 2030,” Byers said, describing the Foundation’s work before turning the presentation over to a coauthor of the technical analysis.
The technical presentation, led by Sean O'Neill, summarized permit data compiled by Barr Engineering and economic estimates by Policy Navigation Group. The report distinguished between MPCA’s tier 1 permits, which have a 90-day agency goal and are generally routine, and tier 2 permits, which are facility-specific, carry public comment periods…
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