​After a significant amount of delay, House Bills 102 and 104, part of the package of bills referred to as "Ready in 6" were passed by the Delaware General Assembly and signed by the Governor. These bills make modifications to state law to help reduce the "red tape" associated with approvals for economic development projects. 

What You Need to Know:

• Delaware's Governor Carney has signed into law two bills, part of the "Ready in 6" bill package proposed to expedite approvals for economic development projects.
• House Bill 102 permits on-site construction activities to be undertaken much earlier in the process for commercial or economic development projects.
• House Bill 104 exempts certain projects from having to go through the pre-application review process through the Office of State Planning.  

House Bill 102 requires the Department of Transportation to issue a temporary entrance permit within 10 business days of receipt of an entrance plan application along with an erosion and sediment control permit for any commercial or economic development project. This permits on-site construction activities to be undertaken much earlier in the process for development projects.

House Bill 104 exempts certain projects from having to go through the pre-application review process through the Office of State Planning. To be exempt from the "PLUS process," the project must be an "economic development project" as that term is defined in the legislation, i.e., the development creates full-time jobs, is consistent with the adopted local government comprehensive plan and local land development and zoning ordinances, and is located at least partially in Investment Levels 1 or 2 as set forth in the Strategies for State Policies and Spending, and the local jurisdiction does not require such review. When it was initiated, the PLUS process was an opportunity for developers to get upfront feedback on their projects from state agencies. However, with many developers already obtaining such feedback upfront through direct outreach to those agencies, the process has become less valuable and more cumbersome. In addition, it can take several months for an application to get through the pre-application process through State Planning. Having the ability to avoid the process altogether, especially for projects that are consistent with zoning and local comprehensive plans, provides another opportunity to eliminate "red tape" as part of the overall development review process.