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Lean Initiatives at State Environmental Agencies
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Drawing on lessons from businesses' adaptation of lean methods to eliminate waste from administrative processes, an increasing number of federal, state, and local government organizations are achieving compelling results with lean.
Interest in Lean and Six Sigma continues to grow. Since 2003, many State agencies have experienced significant efficiency gains through implementing Lean and Six Sigma methods. For example, the State of Iowa
achieved significant efficiency gains through the completion of more than 65 Lean events which focused on a variety of permitting and management processes. Iowa DNR reduced the average time to issue standard air quality construction permits from 62 days to 6 days, and eliminated 70 percent of the process steps (from 23 to 7 steps). To learn more about Iowa’ lean initiative, click here.
Other states implementing Lean include:
- California Department of Toxic Substances Control held Kaizen events in August and October 2007.
- Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control lowered a backlog of air construction permits from 199 to 25, while reducing the average permit processing time to less than 76 days.
- Idaho Department of Environmental Quality achieved a significant reduction in process steps and delays within their air permitting program and is planning a Kaizen event for their wastewater enforcement program in mid 2007.
- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency held a Kaizen event for minor source air construction permits in June 2007.
- Indiana Department of Environmental Management held a Kaizen event for significant source modifications to their air permitting program in early October 2007.
- Michigan Department of Environmental Quality decreased the time needed to process major air construction permits from 422 days to 98 days. Initial application administrative completeness rose from 82 to 95 percent.
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency improved permitting timeliness by issuing 75 percent of NPDES permits within 180 days (from a historical baseline of 9 percent), and issued 75 percent of air construction permits within 150 days (from a historical baseline of 33 percent). MPCA has used Six Sigma methodologies to improve at least 21 agency processes.
- Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality reduced the review time for ethanol plant air construction permits by 50 percent and decreased the air construction permitting backlog by 55 percent.
- Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation conducted a Value Stream Mapping exercise in August 2007 that focused on the Aquatic Resource Alteration Permits (ARAP) program.
- Vermont Agency of Natural Resources completed a Kaizen event for their waste water permit program which brought about significant reductions in the number of steps and delays within the permitting process.
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality completed permit program reviews on their air program, hazardous waste program, solid waste program, Virginia Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems, wetland protection program, and identified numerous opportunities for process improvements.
- Washington Department of Ecology conducted two Lean events focusing on the financial assistance program within the water quality program and the pollution prevention planning process, both in June 2007.
- Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality held a Kaizen event for New Source Review oil and gas permits in June 2007.
- Region 7 States (Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Kansas Department of Health and the Environment, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality) teamed up with the EPA to hold a Lean event for water quality standards in June 2007.
To learn more about how to get started with Lean and Six Sigma process improvements, see Working Smart for Environmental Protection (PDF)and the Lean in Government Starter Kit
To view Administrative Lean presentations from the 2006 August ECOS meeting, click here (PDF).
To view the Administrative Lean 101 presentation from the 2008 EPA-State Symposium on Innovating for Sustainable Results: Integrated Approaches for Energy, Climate and the Environment, click here. (PDF)