Smart Permitting Agenda

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Written By Danielle Bissett

Co-written by: Danielle Bissett, Becca Madsen, Jessie Mahr

Our current approach to environmental review and permitting is slow, costly, and misaligned with the urgency of our climate and infrastructure goals. The U.S. needs a regulatory process that can adapt to our social and environmental needs, improve efficiency, and facilitate timely action.

At the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), we work to advance ecological restoration at scale by leveraging collaboration, technology, and pragmatic solutions. Our priorities include streamlining approvals for ecological restoration, expediting minor projects under NEPA, and eliminating procedural steps that add cost without improving outcomes. Yet, environmental laws enacted over 50 years ago—designed to prevent harm—now often delay efforts to restore degraded habitats and deploy nature-based solutions that strengthen communities against extreme weather. Permitting and environmental reviews can take years and consume up to one-third of a project’s budget. We need to fund nature, not paperwork!

 

With large-scale restoration, clean energy, and climate resilience projects at the forefront of national and state priorities, EPIC’s Smart Permitting Agenda provides solutions to modernize the regulatory process. By changing the process—not weakening the laws—EPIC aims to improve efficiency and transparency while maintaining strong environmental safeguards.

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Danielle Bissett

Danielle Bissett is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner and Assistant Director of Restoration Policy at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, which she joined at the end of 2023. In her current role on the Restoration Team, she applies her practitioner experience to improve permitting processes and policies, accelerating high-quality restoration projects. Before joining EPIC, Danielle led restoration efforts at NYC Parks’ Natural Resources Group and Billion Oyster Project. At NYC Parks, she collaborated with partners and community groups to implement the Bronx River Intermunicipal Watershed Plan—a comprehensive ecological restoration approach that improves physical, ecological, and social conditions while reducing environmental stressors to the river and riparian areas. While working for Billion Oyster Project, Danielle played a pivotal role in shaping and advancing oyster reef habitat restoration in New York City. As Director of Restoration, she led and scaled the Restoration Department and strategically established several initiatives to assist the recovery of self-sustaining oyster populations in New York Harbor, which relied heavily on collaborative partnerships and a multi-habitat restoration approach. She holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from Bard College’s Center for Environmental Policy and a dual Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and Anthropology from Adelphi University.

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