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Committee hears bill to make permit denials and processing times more transparent
Summary
House Bill 4020 would require several state permitting agencies to explain legal authority for permit denials and to develop and publish performance measures on permit processing timelines; sponsors said it’s an informational, collaborative step to improve predictability for businesses and agencies.
Representative Ben Bowman (House District 25) presented House Bill 4020 to the House Committee on Rules, saying the bill asks the Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Transportation, Department of State Lands, Department of Energy, and Department of Geology and Mineral Industries to identify the statutory or regulatory bases for denying permits and to develop performance measures that explain what slows permit processing.
"When an agency denies a permit, we want that applicant to be told why and to be given an opportunity to appeal," Bowman said. He emphasized the second part of the bill asks agencies to describe what steps in their process take the most time and to offer suggestions to the legislature about potential fixes, adding that the intent is to improve predictability and transparency, not to shame agencies.
Representative April Dobson (House District 39) said the bills are "common sense" reforms that help businesses know how to comply and give agencies a collaborative space to explain capacity challenges. Sponsors said the named agencies had been consulted during drafting and that the aim is not punitive but to create clear metrics for timeline improvements.
Committee members asked whether the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) should be included and whether agencies were comfortable with the proposal; sponsors said they would follow up on agency engagement and continue collaborative drafting.
The public hearing closed without a committee vote; sponsors said the work is intended to be an incremental, collaborative reform to increase predictability for applicants and businesses.
