On her 100th day in office, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said the state is seeking applications from energy, commercial and multifamily housing project developers for the pilot.
Potential participants must have recently submitted, or soon will submit, permit applications to the state’s departments of Environmental Protection, Transportation or Community Affairs, according to the statement.
Other conditions also apply, and the deadline to submit proposals is 11:59 p.m. on May 21. State officials will select up to 10 projects chosen at random from the approved applicant pool.
According to the statement, the pilot aims “to track the progress of their cross-agency permits in one place. This pilot will begin developing a system that can be scaled in the future and support the Sherrill administration in making the permitting process faster and easier.”
The pilot reflects the administration’s goal of reforming New Jersey’s permitting system via a “whole-of-government effort” that could save time and money for businesses and residents, according to the statement.
The New Jersey Innovation Authority will lead this effort, which also involves other state agencies. The hope is that a permitting dashboard will help users track permit applications across state agencies via one website, and access such information as target due dates, remaining work and project status.
Soon after her inauguration in January, Sherrill said she wanted to build a “one-stop shop” for permitting.
At that time she also expressed support for studying how AI and other technology can help officials and residents cut through regulatory red tape while protecting the environment. She also called for mass transit tech upgrades.
“On day one, I committed to cutting permitting times and delivering real accountability to make it easier and faster to build in New Jersey,” Sherrill said in the statement. “This is a critical step toward a more streamlined system, saving New Jerseyans time and money and making it easier to build more housing, open businesses and deliver critical infrastructure across our state.”
Permitting and dashboards and portals are among the hottest areas in gov tech, driving business and innovation while also leading to significant delays in some projects.
