Let's Talk About the Federal Permitting Workforce

Written By Christopher Putney

We’ve got some ideas on how to fix it, and would love your feedback

By: Peter Bonner, Chris Putney, and Brent Efron

Since the beginning of 2025, federal roles tasked with permitting are down 20-30%. As a result, agencies have lost staff responsible for everything from data analysis, environmental science, and regulatory interpretation, to complex project management—and numerous other functions—essential to permitting. 

At the same time, major regulatory change, new technology to streamline workflows, and the need for speed and efficiency are placing new demands on the existing permitting workforce. 

Over the last few months the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and the Environmental Policy Innovation Center conducted a series of confidential interviews with permitting practitioners across federal agencies to understand exactly what has changed and how this or a future president might be able to improve the efficiency of the federal permitting workforce.

One thing is already clear: the executive branch should not simply replace departed federal staff—instead, we need to reimagine the permitting workforce itself to meet the demands of a new regulatory and technological environment. In two new policy memos we’ve put out today, we sketch a few ideas for how the executive and legislative branches should do just that.

We’ve put out two distinct versions of the memo. One is directed to the executive branch with actions we believe an administration could take today. The other is geared towards the legislative branch, with ideas for new legislation and oversight.

And we’d love your feedback! Do you think these sorts of reforms would work? Are there any other ideas we missed? Let us know! 

We’re now in the process of drafting a longer report on the permitting workforce, and we plan to publish later this summer.

Drop us a comment below or send us an email at PermittingWorkforce@policyinnovation.org 

Thanks!

Peter, Chris, and Brent

Christopher Putney

Christopher leads the Technology Program’s cross-cutting technology talent and workforce initiatives. He also supports EPIC’s evolving legislative affairs work related to environmental tech and data use in government, tech capacity, and other workforce priorities. Before EPIC, he worked in Deloitte’s Government & Public Services practice doing technology modernization, human capital, and workforce strategy, communications, and change management for federal clients in the executive branch and DoD. His previous work spanned sectors and mission-driven teams, and includes roles in politics, non-profits, and academia, a small e-commerce start-up, and working for a Member of Congress. He holds degrees in Government and Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin (BA), and in Political Science, from the Graduate Center (Masters), City University of New York (CUNY). His research and teaching interests are at the intersection of democracy, race, and American political development (APD).