DEQ warns permit backlogs and turnover are slowing projects; seeks targeted pay increases

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee that staff turnover and vacancies have lengthened permitting timelines and that the agency is proposing targeted pay increases to improve recruitment and retention.

Why it matters: DEQ issues air quality and wastewater permits and administers state remediation programs. Legislators asked for evidence that pay adjustments would improve permit turnaround and for details on fund balances that underwrite loans and remediation work.

Agency overview and staffing: Budget analyst Janet Jessup told the committee the Department of Environmental Quality is allocated roughly 385 full‑time positions. Director Jess Byrne said the agency has seen high vacancy rates and turnover in specialized permitting positions and that recruiting and training new staff has become a major challenge. Byrne said it can take up to two years to train a new permit writer and that recent turnover means the agency is often replacing staff just as they become fully productive. Average tenure for new employees in recent years was reported as 2.8 years.

Permitting delays and impact: Byrne and committee members discussed permitting metrics: the air permitting program’s average permit processing time rose from about 89.1 days to roughly 160 days for a recent period, and specific permitting programs reported vacancy rates up to 50–60% over the last year (air permitting and surface water individual permits). Byrne said the agency prioritizes permits that, if delayed, would directly hold up economic development so that the slowdowns do not unduly block projects, but she warned that extended backlogs still slow business and development.

Proposed compensation actions: To address recruitment and retention, the department’s governor‑recommended package would raise the hiring minimum comp‑ratio from roughly 75% to 83% for new hires and raise targeted hard‑to‑fill positions to a minimum comp‑ratio around 86%. Byrne said those changes, paired with a compensation equity component (CEC) already approved by the committee, are intended to make DEQ competitive for specialized technical staff and to reduce churn.

Funds, loans and remediation: Jessup reviewed multiple dedicated funds overseen or administered by DEQ, including drinking water and wastewater loan funds, agricultural best‑management funds, and remediation funds tied to major sites such as the Bunker Hill Superfund site in northern Idaho. Byrne said the agency aims to build a $45 million basin remediation balance for Bunker Hill operation and maintenance. The committee also discussed a prior deficiency in the waste‑tire fund (a negative balance in 2022) that was addressed by the legislature in subsequent sessions.

Other federal and state funds: The department’s recent increases in trustee and benefit payments are driven largely by ARPA state fiscal recovery funds and separate federal appropriations such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Jessup noted a prior large infusion of general funds into the water pollution control account (roughly $92 million in a past session) that has been held and is now being drawn down as projects are awarded and funded.

Committee requests and follow up: Legislators asked the agency to provide more granular proposals showing which positions and how many would receive targeted increases and how those changes would map to permit backlog improvements. Byrne said she will provide follow‑up materials and that the targeted increases are intended to stabilize staffing before seeking significant new positions.

Sources and quotes: "We've hit a crossroads. We are no longer able to keep up with our workload and provide the level of service that Idahoans expect and need," Director Jess Byrne told the committee, adding that the department has fewer technical staff in several permitting programs than it did two decades ago. Byrne also described the agency’s aim to combine targeted pay increases with a CEC to improve competitiveness.

What’s next: Committee staff asked for detailed position‑level plans and performance measures to evaluate whether the requested compensation adjustments would meaningfully reduce permitting backlogs and protect state primacy of environmental programs. No formal legislative action was recorded in the hearing transcript.