This new biweekly series is dedicated to highlighting major regulatory modernization successes. It will feature a handful of significant regulatory reduction actions from the preceding weeks. 

“Our administration is committed to reducing regulations and increasing transparency across the Commonwealth. Today, we’re excited to launch this office of regulatory management newsletter to highlight the administration’s incredible regulatory reduction progress and shine a spotlight on the great work Virginia agencies are doing every day to save Virginians time and money. By highlighting big wins, we’re creating opportunities for agencies to learn from each other and spread the word about the best-in-class regulatory system we’re building here in Virginia,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.

 

VMRC Saves Fishers Time and Money with a Change to the Permitting Process.

In the world of commercial fishing, permits can help maintain healthy fish populations by preventing overharvesting. But fishing permits that are too expensive or hard to obtain can harm an industry that’s crucial to Virginia’s coastal communities. And small fishermen, who don’t have much time to spare and operate on tight budgets, tend to be hurt the most. 

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is keenly aware of this challenge, and it recently adopted a new regulation that will make life a lot easier for many in the shellfish industry. Instead of requiring a $150 fee every day a fisher conducts a harvest, the agency will instead require a $150 fee once per year. This will save fishers over $8000 per year. Perhaps more importantly, it will save them a lot of time: less time filling out paperwork means more time fishing. And VMRC will save itself time as well: $8000 in permit fees is pretty small when compared to the time it takes to process and track all those extra permits.

 

DARS Streamlines Its Guidance Documents.

Guidance can be extremely helpful for regulated parties trying to navigate a complex system. But guidance documents that are too long, too numerous, or out-of-date or confusingly written do more harm than good. As of this writing, there are well over 3000 guidance documents on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. 

One agency that’s focused on making sure its guidance is as streamlined and helpful as possible is the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. It recently initiated an action that will consolidate three guidance documents into one. It will also reduce the length of those documents by about a third and make a bunch of clean-up edits to ensure they’re accurate and up-to-date. 

It will now be much easier for Virginia’s centers of independent living, which are governed by the documents, to find what they need. And as DARS and other agencies take a careful look at what actually needs to be online, Town Hall will become less cluttered and easier for everyone to use.

Download ORM Highlights: May 2024.