County Executive Praises Streamlined Health Permit Process

From the Office of  County Executive Bellone 

Suffolk County launched a streamlined process July 1 for obtaining Health Department permits, reducing the steps and time required of residents and businesses to win permits for their projects.

“Our goal is to ensure safe, responsible and quality building practices while at the same time make certain the permit approval process is as efficient and timely as possible,” said County Executive Steve Bellone. “These new modifications and enhancements will encourage and strengthen positive economic development by putting in place a more efficient and manageable permit process.”

The changes, developed in a partnership with the Long Island Builders Institute and the Association for a Better Long Island, don’t reduce quality or requirements for the permits.  Under the new process, applicants will first meet with Health Department representatives to review requirements and improve the quality of the application, eliminating the time spent submitting, refining and resubmitting updated material.

“Everybody now knows what the expectations are from the Health Department,” said Tom Lembo, who specializes  in the  field of water and wastewater engineering with the Melville firm of Nelson & Pope.  “More important, I think because the Health Department and the Long Island Builders Institute are working hand in hand, it’s going to have popular support from both sides of approval process.”

Lembo, whose firm has worked on numerous projects around Long Island, was one of about 150 engineers, planners, environmentalists and others who recently participated in a training seminar on the new process. He said clients will be better able to understand the intensity of the application process under the new system and checklist of requirements.

An analysis of the process revealed that 1% of the total time, from submission of application to approval, is spent on reviewing the technical aspects of the application; the balance of the time is spent on an iterative process of awaiting, reviewing and evaluating additional information from the applicant.  This process can delay approvals by months.

The new process will address numerous long term and short term activities which will include, but are not limited to:

•           simplifying communications,

•           modification of resubmittal process for incomplete applications,

•           establishment of on-going working group for design professionals,

•           establishment of an outcome based performance management system for shared use by design professionals and county staff

•           implementation of a complaint system for discovered waste and abuse involving licensed professionals.