CSG Law Environmental Blog: Governor Sherrill Pauses Proposed Regulations and Seeks to Streamline Regulatory Permitting
Two recent executive orders from the new gubernatorial administration have temporarily paused the proposal and implementation of new administrative rules and regulations while also introducing measures to streamline and standardize permitting processes within executive agencies.
Executive Order 7 – Regulatory Pause
On January 23, 2026, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order 7 (“EO7”), instituting a 90-day pause on the proposal and adoption of new rules and regulations. While exceptions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, in general, EO7 prohibits State agencies from proposing or adopting any new rules until April 23, 2026.
The purpose of EO7 is to allow the new administration sufficient time to review previously proposed rules and ensure they align with current policies and priorities. EO7 states that “this review of proposed administrative rules is especially necessary to address the current economic and affordability crisis in New Jersey.”
EO7 applies to proposed rules that were published within the past 12 months (or within the past 18 months if the proposal has undergone substantial changes) and have not yet been adopted. The Resilient Environments and Landscape (“Real”) Rules, which provide comprehensive updates to land resource regulations, including raising the flood elevation by four feet to tidal flood areas, were finalized days before EO7 was issued and are not included in the review. (More information on the Real Rules is available at CSG Law Alert: NJDEP Issues Final Coastal Flood Rules – CSG Law.)
Executive Order 5 – Permitting Streamlining and Transparency
Executive Order 5 (“EO5”) is intended to streamline permitting and regulatory reviews, with the stated purpose of “improving affordability and economic opportunity by making it easier, faster, and less expensive to build major projects such as housing developments, clean energy generation infrastructure, and manufacturing facilities in New Jersey.” Those somewhat lofty goals are intended to be advanced through the following initiatives.
- Creation of a Cross‑Agency Permitting Team. The new team will identify permitting bottlenecks, implement standardized permitting frameworks, work with local governments to integrate local permitting, coordinate across agencies to help resolve delays and to propose legislative fixes to inefficient permitting processes.
- Permitting Catalog. By April 20, 2026, every executive branch department or agency shall catalog all types of permits each issues and submit that list to the Cross-Agency Permitting Team with various details including the legal authority governing the timeline by which each permit application must be processed, each step in the approval process, who is responsible for completing each step, and the expected timeline for completion of each step. The agencies will also set forth what constitutes a complete application for each permit and recommend the appropriate timeline by which the agency must notify the applicant of an incomplete application for each type of permit.
- Permitting “Shot Clock.” Using the information provided in the permitting catalog, the Cross-Agency Permitting Team will formulate presumptive permitting application process timeframes. These so called “shot clocks” will not create any rights for permit applicants.
- Permitting Dashboard. The Cross-Agency Permitting Team will create an interactive online portal displaying the status and progress of state permit applications. The portal is intended to allow the applicant to track permit applications, improve accountability and reduce delays. Agencies are required to coordinate with the Cross-Agency Permitting Team to support the dashboard.
- Creation of Regulatory Simplification Team. EO5 also creates a Regulatory Simplification Team tasked with “developing proposals and implementing reforms to state regulatory structures to reduce project delays and costs.” The new team will recommend ways to modernize or streamline outdated regulations, including examining alternative review models, such as third-party certification, to streamline regulatory review. The team will also identify where existing regulations impose costs and delays and recommend regulatory fixes.
- Creation of a New Jersey Report Card. The report card will be an interactive, public-facing online portal with an interactive budget analysis tool that displays a breakdown of the State’s spending and revenue for the fiscal year, differences between the proposed and enacted budget, and changes in state revenue and spending over time. The report card may also provide information on government-funded programs and the impact of the programs on citizens of New Jersey.
EO5 and EO7 are promising indications of the current administration’s acknowledgement that pending regulations may not have fully considered current economic conditions, and that, for many permits applications, streamlining and transparency is necessary. The permitting catalog and dashboard will be useful tools for shepherding applications through state approvals. CSG Law will monitor recommendations from the Cross-Agency Permitting Team and Regulatory Simplification Team to determine how the proposed changes will impact future permit applications.
For more information on navigating the project permitting process, please reach out to the authors of this article or the CSG Law Environmental Group.