DEQ warns permit delays and staff turnover are slowing projects; proposes targeted pay increases and fund transfers for remediation and loans

At the same Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Jess Byrne briefed legislators on staffing shortages, permit backlogs and fund activity, and described a targeted pay plan the agency says is necessary to stabilize permitting timelines.

Janet Jessup, Legislative Services budget analyst, introduced the DEQ segment and reviewed the agency’s consolidated fund analysis, noting that ARPA state fiscal recovery money and other federal funds had altered recent expenditure patterns. Jas s Byrne and DEQ staff answered questions from committee members on permit timelines, turnover, loan programs, and remediation funds.

Byrne said DEQ is allocated 385 full-time positions and had roughly 37 vacancies at the time of budget submission (about a 9.7% vacancy rate). The agency reported that it expended 85% of its personnel budget in 2024 and attributed slower permit processing to turnover in technical permit-writing positions. Byrne told the committee that some permit-writing programs experienced very high vacancy rates: about 50% vacancy in parts of the air-permitting program and roughly 60% vacancy in the surface-water individual permit program during the last year. She said the…