Session Coordinator:
Matt Clifford, Trout Unlimited

Although publicly-funded restoration projects are intended to have net benefits for sensitive species and habitat, their implementation is subject to state, federal, and local permitting laws to ensure that development will not adversely affect these values.  Compliance with these laws can consume a significant share of project budgets, and can be a source of  delay and uncertainty in project schedules.  This can create challenges for implementing restoration measures on a scale and timeline necessary for species recovery.  To date, attempts to ease compliance burdens by creating “streamlined” permitting pathways for restoration projects have met with mixed results.  This panel will (1) examine the most common ways in which restoration projects intersect with laws governing issues such as water quality, endangered species, water rights, streambed alteration, and local building and planning; (2) describe several “streamlined” permitting pathways under existing laws and policies; and (3) discuss how laws and policies might be amended to reduce the time and expense of permitting restoration projects while minimizing their environmental impacts.

Trinity River Restoration — Does Streamlining the Regulatory Process Allow for More Effective Restoration? 
Brandt Gutermuth, Bureau of Reclamation, Trinity River Restoration Program

Dam Insights: Removal of Small Dams Via Programmatic Permitting
Stacie Fejtek Smith, NOAA Restoration Center

Water Rights Permitting for Streamflow Enhancement Projects in Coastal California - Existing Tools and the Need to Bring Them to Scale
Matt Clifford, JD, Trout Unlimited

Saving Taxpayer Dollars While Protecting Natural Resources:  An Overview of the NOAA Restoration Center’s Programmatic Biological Opinions and Coastal Commission Consistency Determinations in California
Bob Pagliuco, Marine Habitat Restoration Specialist, NOAA Fisheries

Removing Barriers to Restoration. Are we Done Yet?
Jonathan Warmerdam, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist), North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

Improving Restoration Permitting: A New Multi-Agency Initiative to Advance Projects Statewide
Erik Schmidt, Sustainable Conservation