Committee approves summary-reporting amendment to Senate Bill 74 on permit delays

The Finance committee voted to approve an amendment that replaces Senate Bill 74’s requirement for individual permit-level reports with a summary, categorically reporting the number of permits completed in more than 60, 120 and 180 days and a short summary of why permits were delayed. The committee set the first annual report due April 30, 2027; that first report will cover calendar year 2026 (January 1–December 31).

The amendment was offered as a wholesale replacement to the bill to avoid producing “dozens of pages” of individual case reports. The mover explained, “So you'll have the number of permits that took more than 60 days, more than a hundred and 20 days, and more than a hundred and 80 days to complete. And, secondly, we'll have a summary of for the ones that are more than 60 days, how many are being delayed because there's engineering work that needs to be done or there's field work that needs to be done or or just there's a whole backlog or for whatever reason,” (Chair).

Committee members pressed staff and sponsors on how the measure treats applications that are not administratively complete. Representative Munster asked for clarification on the reporting period and confirmed the April 30, 2027 deadline is the due date for the first annual report covering 2026. Representative Griffin raised a concern that the bill does not define “administratively complete,” saying, “That basically is my concern is the administratively complete isn't defined,” and argued that an application that meets the form’s requests should be considered complete even if subsequent technical issues arise.

Representative Ebel supported the amendment as an improvement over the original bill, saying it will give agencies more time and produce more useful information. Sponsors said the Department of Environmental Services and the Department of Transportation (DES and DOT) helped structure the amended reporting and that the later report date was chosen so agencies would not have to retroactively prepare reports from past files.

Procedurally, the committee approved the amendment by voice/show of hands with no recorded opposition, and then voted the bill “ought to pass as amended.” A roll call recorded the following: Representative Campbells — yes; Representative Griffin — yes; Representative Wyler — yes; Representative Ebel — yes; Representative Wallner — yes; Representative Munz — no; Representative Sweeney — absent; clerk — yes. The chair announced the motion passed, 7 to 1.

The committee noted the amendment narrows the scope of required reports and pushes the first filing to 2027 so agencies can collect data prospectively rather than assembling retrospective case files. Sponsors said the summary format is intended to highlight systemic causes of delay (engineering, field work, applicant follow-up, backlog) rather than produce lengthy narrative explanations for each permit.

The committee adjourned with a reminder that the full committee will meet the following Wednesday at 10 a.m.