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DEQ to launch Access DEQ portal box Dec. 12; Brownfields LUR uploads available Jan. 2025
Summary
The Department of Environmental Quality plans an Access DEQ 'Brownfields' portal box on Dec. 12 with account-based project tracking, document upload and invoice payment; land-use restriction (LUR) PDFs can be uploaded in January 2025, with DEQ review before public posting to Laserfiche.
The Department of Environmental Quality said it will add a Brownfields-specific box to its new Access DEQ portal on Dec. 12 and expects to allow land-use restriction (LUR) PDF submissions in January 2025, officials told stakeholders at a Dec. stakeholder meeting.
Jocelyn, Brownfields program staff, demonstrated the portal and said users will register an account, start or resume applications, upload assessment reports and LUR forms as PDFs, request access to existing projects and pay invoices through the portal. "You'll be able to see your project, your specific permit status," Jocelyn said during the presentation.
The portal will centralize project status tracking and notifications and is intended to replace many of the summary emails currently used to transmit documents to DEQ. Jocelyn said the portal includes a help-ticket function to route system problems to the Department's IT team. She advised attendees that the system will accept PDFs of signed and notarized LURs at launch; e-notary or DocuSign is not currently available but is under consideration.
On timing, Jocelyn said the Brownfields portal box will appear on the Access DEQ landing page on Dec. 12 and that LUR submissions will be available as an option in January 2025: "This will be available for January," she said. She added that the January LUR submittal would not be mandatory the first month while users onboard to the system.
DEQ staff confirmed that uploaded files will not automatically become public. Jocelyn said DEQ staff will review documents and then send approved copies to Laserfiche for public availability: "Nothing will go to Laserfiche until we tell it to," she said.
Stakeholders raised questions about convenience fees for online payments; Billy from IT/finance confirmed the state uses the PayIt service for payments and that convenience fees are likely to apply. Jocelyn said more documentation and a user guide will be posted to the Access DEQ site, and asked project managers and consultants to begin connecting to their projects after Dec. 12 to help identify early issues.
The portal is intended to streamline DEQ's reporting to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state legislature and to make internal status tracking visible to project teams and stakeholders.
