Permitting Tools Inventory
Understanding the Software Landscape to Accelerate Permitting Innovation
In collaboration with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), we launched this inventory to enhance our collective understanding of how software is used in the federal permitting process, and to open lines of dialogue for cross-agency and cross-sector learning.
Historic investments in climate resilience, the clean energy transition, and new infrastructure will all hinge on our government's ability to efficiently permit, site, and build key projects.
We recognize that systems and digital tools play a central role throughout the permitting process—from siting and design, to permit application steps and post-permit activities.
The inventory catalogs permitting software applications across federal and state government agencies, NGOs, and tech companies. While far from comprehensive, our goals are to survey and document permitting tools for interested users, open lines of dialogue for cross-application learning, and highlight where we see needs for further permitting tech investment.
Historic investments in climate resilience, the clean energy transition, and new infrastructure will all hinge on our government's ability to efficiently permit, site, and build key projects.
We recognize that systems and digital tools play a central role throughout the permitting process—from siting and design, to permit application steps and post-permit activities.
The inventory we’ve compiled catalogs over sixty permitting software applications currently being used across federal and state government agencies, NGOs, and tech companies. While far from comprehensive, our goals with this first iteration are to survey permitting tools for interested users, open up lines of dialogue for cross-application learning, and highlight where we see needs for further permitting tech investment.
FAQs
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Software programs for environmental permitting from federal and state agencies, non-profits, and private companies. We seek tools that help gather, organize, and share information throughout the permitting process. The inventory concentrates on publicly accessible or advertised applications, rather than providing a comprehensive list of internal systems. Inclusion of a tool in the inventory is not an endorsement.
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This inventory focuses on publicly accessible or advertised applications, rather than a comprehensive list of internal systems used by permitting personnel. The initial release of the inventory sourced these applications from staff interviews with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Energy (DOE), as well as federal agency permitting websites, Google keyword searches, and snowball sampling from private companies. Future releases add tools based on market research, interviews with permitting professionals, and suggestions from the public.
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To explore tool types and information, scroll down within each category column (federal, non-profit, etc.) or across columns. To learn more about a specific tool (e.g., its owner, relevant permitting stage, etc.), click on the tool. To use a more detailed view of the inventory you can choose to View Larger Version at the bottom of the screen to access sort and filter tools. You can also filter results using the "Filter," "Sort," or keyword search features located at the top of the viewer. For a more tailored search, add "conditions" using the filter function to see tools organized by "owner" (e.g., Federal, State), "entity" (e.g., agency, company name), or "bureau." For a larger view, you can also use this webpage.
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Are you interested in this work? Did we miss something? We want to hear from you: click here to get in touch.
Note: This inventory is updated manually and real-time changes to a tool or company may result in broken-links. See something broken? Please let us know.