The DEP is celebrating reduced back log after modernization efforts by the Governor.
Every year the DEP reviews more than 45,000 permits, in the first three months of 2025 they say they have completed 28,000.
Officials with the DEP say the 88 percent reduction in permit backlog is thanks to new technology and reviewing the process to prevent backlogs. An additional 225 employees have also improved critical functions to improve permit application reviews.
Since the implementation of the PAyback Program, which returns permit application payments if not completed in a set time, 50,000 permits have been issued without a refund of a single permit.