TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced it has reduced the backlog of Freshwater Wetland Letters of Interpretation by 42% since the start of the Sherrill administration through a combination of application review “blitzes” and operational improvements.
The reduction is part of Operation FAST — Facilitated Approvals for Sustainable Transformation — an initiative aimed at improving permitting efficiency while maintaining environmental protections.
According to the DEP, the backlog of applications for Freshwater Wetland Letters of Interpretation (LOIs) has dropped from 1,102 at the start of the administration to 638 as of June 18.
An LOI is issued before development projects begin and determines whether freshwater wetlands or transition areas are present on a property. The document helps property owners and developers understand whether wetlands regulations apply before seeking permits.
State officials said reducing the backlog is intended to provide greater certainty for applicants while helping avoid delays that can affect development projects, job creation and local economic growth.
“The Sherrill Administration is laser-focused on its mission to make New Jersey more affordable and government more efficient,” Department of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak said. “While there is more work to do to eliminate the backlog completely, in the coming months these efforts will dramatically reduce the average amount of time it takes to process this important determination. This would not be possible without the hard work from the dedicated professionals at the DEP.”
Over the past year, the DEP’s Watershed and Land Management Program received approximately 5,500 permit and jurisdictional determination applications, including about 730 requests for Letters of Interpretation.
Officials said application reviews had fallen behind as submissions outpaced processing, leading to average wait times of about one year. To address the backlog, the department reassigned staff and shifted workloads to conduct an intensive review effort focused on pending LOI applications.
“The DEP has been able to achieve this significant backlog reduction without compromising the quality of our review process,” said DEP Assistant Commissioner for Watershed and Land Management Jennifer Moriarty. “We are continuing our reviews of pending LOIs to eliminate the backlog. Through the blitz, we have identified a number of pending applications that require more information from applicants in order to conclude our review. We encourage those applicants to provide the needed information or withdraw the application as soon as they can.”
The backlog reduction is part of Operation FAST, which includes efforts to streamline permitting reviews, modernize technology, improve staffing, enhance coordination among permitting programs and expand online permitting services while maintaining environmental and public health protections, the DEP said.
