Regulatory simplification makes everyone’s life easier. It reduces the burden on regulated parties and the general public, saving them time that would otherwise be spent navigating red tape. And it also saves state agencies time and money: more tailored regulations, shorter guidance documents, and simpler permits are far easier for an agency to process, enforce, and update. This week’s Highlights features some notable agency wins in the simplification arena.

 

DMV reduces the information required to apply for a license.

Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 39 promotes a more efficient permitting and licensing process. Among other things, it asks every permitting/licensing agency to look at every type of approval it issues to determine if it can be simplified.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recently found an innovative way to simplify its driver training school instructor license application. It realized it was requesting that applicants provide notice of past traffic accidents, even though the agency already had that information in a database. A recent action (Action 6470 / Stage 10337) struck that requirement. This will save would-be driver training school instructors time poring through their records to find information DMV already has. And it will save DMV from duplicate paperwork.

 

Agencies continue to log major wins in streamlining guidance documents.

Agencies are continuing their winning streak in clearing out unnecessary guidance documents. Just as simpler permits save regulated parties time otherwise spent filling out forms, shorter guidance documents save regulated parties time that they’d otherwise spend trying to figure out their legal obligations.

Here are some recent actions involving streamlined agency guidance:

• The Department of State Police recently eliminated 3 documents that it determined did not meet the statutory definition of “guidance” (see GDForum ID: 2599, GDForum ID: 2566, and GDForum ID: 2605). With these recent reductions, VSP has now eliminated 100% of its documents on the Town Hall website!
  
  
  
• The Department of Labor and Industry has also made major inroads in clearing out documents that don’t qualify as guidance. A recent action (GDForum ID 2602) cut another 35 documents from Town Hall. DOLI has now eliminated 66% of the documents it previously had posted on Town Hall!
  
  
  
• Guidance simplification often involves removing entire documents from Town Hall. But sometimes parts of documents meet the legal definition of “guidance” whereas others do not. The Department of Environmental Quality recently consolidated multiple legacy documents into a single guidance document and removed a significant amount of text that did not qualify as “guidance,” reducing the aggregate length by 81% (see GDForum ID 2552). Once completed, DEQ will have eliminated over 35% of its guidance documents on Town Hall!

All three agencies have now exceeded the 20% guidance document length reduction goal for FY2024: congratulations VSP, DOLI, and DEQ!

Download ORM Highlights: Late-October 2024.