BILL REQ. #:  H-4180.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/11/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to promoting economic development through enhancing transparency and predictability of state agency permitting and review processes; amending RCW 43.17.385; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   On December 30, 2013, the Washington state auditor's office issued a performance audit report, finding that state agencies could shorten the time it takes to submit, review, and make decisions on business permit applications through simple improvements. In response to the performance audit findings, the legislature intends to improve the predictability and efficiency of permit decisions by making information about permitting assistance and timelines more readily available to the public. The legislature finds that providing citizens and businesses with better information about permit decisions will assist their planning and decision making, promoting economic development. Making permit performance data readily accessible to citizens helps them hold government accountable to a high level of customer service and timeliness. Finally, requiring agencies to track the time it takes to issue permits equips agency leaders with key information that can assist them in improving overall project schedules, better allocating resources, and identifying additional opportunities to better serve the public.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency" means the following executive branch agencies and offices of statewide elected officials:
     (a) Department of agriculture;
     (b) Department of archaeology and historic preservation;
     (c) Department of ecology;
     (d) Department of fish and wildlife;
     (e) Gambling commission;
     (f) Department of health;
     (g) Department of labor and industries;
     (h) Department of licensing;
     (i) Liquor control board;
     (j) Department of natural resources;
     (k) Parks and recreation commission;
     (l) Department of revenue;
     (m) Department of transportation; and
     (n) Utilities and transportation commission.
     (2) "Office" means the office of regulatory assistance.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) By June 30, 2014, each agency shall prepare and submit to the office an inventory of all the permits that it issues.
     (2)(a) Each agency shall track and record the time it takes to make permitting decisions.
     (b) Agencies are encouraged to track all relevant information that can assist Washington businesses in determining how long a permit process will take so that the businesses may successfully plan their activities and make sound investment choices, reduce permitting costs to the taxpayers in the form of unnecessary or duplicate staff work, and avoid permitting decision delays that can result in higher costs and lost revenue.
     (c) At a minimum, each agency shall track and record the following information for each permit application it receives or decision it issues:
     (i) The application completion time, which is the time elapsed from the initial submission of an application by an entity seeking a permit to the time at which the agency has determined that the application is complete; and
     (ii) The permit decision time, which is the time elapsed from receipt of a complete application to the agency's issuance of a decision approving or denying the permit.
     (3) Each agency shall calculate, for each permit it has identified in its inventory, the following performance data:
     (a) The average application completion and permit decision times for each permit, as measured by the times tracked for ninety percent of applications or permit decisions, excluding the five percent that took the shortest and the five percent that took the longest;
     (b) The maximum application completion time, excluding applications that were withdrawn or never completed; and
     (c) The maximum permit decision time.
     (4) Each agency shall report to the office, as provided in this subsection (4).
     (a) By March 1, 2016, each agency shall report the times calculated under subsection (3) of this section for the period from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2016.
     (b) By March 1, 2018, and March 1, 2020, each agency shall report based on the times tracked and calculated since the previous reporting period.
     (c) In each of the reports required under this section, each agency shall submit an updated inventory of permits. Each agency shall identify any permits listed in its inventory for which the agency has not yet posted permit processing times and other information as required under section 4 of this act and an estimated date for such posting prior to June 30, 2015.
     (5) The office shall make available to the legislature, upon request, the individual agency reports submitted under subsection (4) of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) To provide meaningful customer service that informs project planning and decision making by the citizens and businesses served, each agency must make available to permit applicants the following information through a link from the agency's web site to the office's web site, as provided in subsection (4) of this section:
     (a) A list of the types of permit assistance available and how such assistance may be accessed;
     (b) An estimate of the time required by the agency to process a permit application and issue a decision;
     (c) Other tools to help applicants successfully complete a thorough application, such as:
     (i) Examples of model completed applications;
     (ii) Examples of approved applications, appropriately redacted to remove sensitive information; and
     (iii) Checklists for ensuring a complete application.
     (2) Each agency shall update at reasonable intervals the information it posts pursuant to this section.
     (3)(a) Agencies must post the information required under subsection (1) of this section for all permits as soon as practicable, and no later than the deadlines established in this section.
     (b) The agency shall post the permit inventory for that agency and the information required under subsection (1)(a) and (c) of this section no later than June 30, 2014.
     (c) The agency shall post the estimates of application completion and permit decision times required under subsection (1)(b) of this section based on actual data for calendar year 2015 by March 1, 2016, and update this information for the previous calendar year, by March 1st of each year thereafter.
     (d) Agencies must consider the customer experience in ensuring all permit assistance information is simple to use, easy to access, and designed in a customer-friendly manner.
     (4) To ensure agencies can post the required information online with minimal expenditure of agency resources, the office of the chief information officer shall, in consultation with the office of regulatory assistance, establish a central repository of this information, hosted on the office of regulatory assistance's web site. Each agency shall include at least one link to the central repository from the agency's web site. Agencies shall place the link or links in such locations as the agency deems will be most customer-friendly and maximize accessibility of the information to users of the web site.
     (5) The office shall ensure the searchability of the information posted on the central repository, applying industry best practices such as search engine optimization, to ensure that the permit performance and assistance information is readily findable and accessible by members of the public.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) By September 30th of 2016 and each even-numbered year thereafter up to and including 2020, the office shall publish a comprehensive progress report to the economic development committees of the house of representatives and the senate and to the governor on the performance of agencies in tracking permit timelines and other efforts to improve clarity and predictability of regulatory permitting. The report must include at a minimum for each agency a summary of the data reported by the agency to the office under section 3(4) of this act.
     (2) The office shall post the comprehensive progress report on its web site. The report must be easily accessible and designed in a customer-friendly format.
     (3) Beginning with the 2016 report, the office must identify permits with processing and decision times that are most improved and processing and decision times that are most in need of improvement, as indicated by the performance data collected under section 3 of this act. Each agency may include a statement describing any process improvements the agency has identified for implementation in order to improve processing and decision times.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.17.385 and 2005 c 384 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each state agency shall, within available funds, develop and implement a quality management, accountability, and performance system to improve the public services it provides.
     (2) Each agency shall ensure that managers and staff at all levels, including those who directly deliver services, are engaged in the system and shall provide managers and staff with the training necessary for successful implementation.
     (3) Each agency shall, within available funds, ensure that its quality management, accountability, and performance system:
     (a) Uses strategic business planning to establish goals, objectives, and activities consistent with the priorities of government, as provided in statute;
     (b) Engages stakeholders and customers in establishing service requirements and improving service delivery systems;
     (c) Includes clear, relevant, and easy-to-understand measures for each activity;
     (d) Gathers, monitors, and analyzes activity data;
     (e) Uses the data to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to manage process performance, improve efficiency, and reduce costs;
     (f) Establishes performance goals and expectations for employees that reflect the organization's objectives; and provides for regular assessments of employee performance;
     (g) Uses activity measures to report progress toward agency objectives to the agency director at least quarterly;
     (h) Where performance is not meeting intended objectives, holds regular problem-solving sessions to develop and implement a plan for addressing gaps; and
     (i) Allocates resources based on strategies to improve performance.
     (4) Each agency shall conduct a yearly assessment of its quality management, accountability, and performance system.
     (5) State agencies whose chief executives are appointed by the governor shall report to the governor on agency performance at least quarterly. The reports shall be included on the agencies', the governor's, and the office of financial management's web sites.
     (6) The governor shall report annually to citizens on the performance of state agency programs. The governor's report shall include:
     (a) Progress made toward the priorities of government as a result of agency activities; and
     (b) Improvements in agency quality management systems, fiscal efficiency, process efficiency, asset management, personnel management, statutory and regulatory compliance, and management of technology systems.
     (7) Each state agency shall integrate efforts made under this section with other management, accountability, and performance systems, including procedures implemented under chapter 43.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 7 of this act), undertaken under executive order or other authority.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Sections 1 through 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2014, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.