Maryland Department of Planning unveils permitting council prototype dashboard and six pilot projects

Rebecca Flora, secretary of the Maryland Department of Planning and chair of the state's Permitting Council, told the committee the council was created by the economic competitiveness executive order (Dec. 2024) to coordinate state permitting for priority infrastructure and place-based projects. "We are focused in right now on the final report," Flora said, describing the councils structure, working groups and deliverables.

Flora said the council selected six pilot projects to gather detailed, permit-level data and to prototype both an internal intake system and a public-facing dashboard that shows project geography, permit types and status. She said the prototype required manual data collection, working with each agency to identify applicable permits and timelines. "For the pilots, simply as a prototype, we are continuing to test and learn from this," she said, and emphasized the significant manual work involved in compiling the data.

Flora described three process reforms already in the executive order: concurrent permit review among agencies, digitization of permitting processes, and authorization for third-party professional reviewers when agencies miss mandated timelines. She said the council is studying examples from other states (noting Virginias staged interagency permitting approach) and that once systems and processes are standardized, tools such as AI could be applied to improve routing and consistency.

Flora said the council will deliver a final report to the governor (she said the report is due July 1) with specific, data-informed recommendations on phasing, IT investments, and high-impact steps for improving permitting efficiency. She encouraged continued collaboration with DOIT, local jurisdictions and industry stakeholders and asked lawmakers to expect a public final document and follow-up legislative proposals.