Citing complications and delays in Massachusetts’s current land-use permit process, business leaders at the State House on Wednesday asked legislators to simplify the permitting process by approving Gov. Mitt Romney’s proposed job creation bill.
The bill would provide financial incentives for cities and towns to approve land-use permits and increase the time they have to approve the permits from 120 to 180 days.
Supporters at the hearing said the changes would keep and create jobs by encouraging local businesses to stay in Massachusetts and by bringing new businesses into the state.
Secretary of Economic Development Ranch Kimball said the reforms will give local governments more control over their economies, revitalize communities and create jobs.
“Major employers find it easier to expand out of state,” Kimball said, and added that the bill would help Massachusetts compete with other states. The proposed reforms would be most beneficial to biotech companies like Genzyme, a global research and pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, that depend on timely release of products to compete in the marketplace.
According to a Sept. 30 article in the Boston Business Journal, despite current permitting regulations, Massachusetts is a popular location for biotech companies because of the many universities and the large pool of highly qualified potential employees.
Genzyme has more than 2 million square feet of space in Massachusetts and employs more than 3,300 people, according to Mark Bamforth, Genzyme’s senior vice president of corporate operations, who testified in support of the bill.
Alison Lawton, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and corporate quality systems at Genzyme, called the permitting process the “single greatest deterrent to manufacturing in Massachusetts” and said neighboring states with less complicated permitting procedures have tried to draw Genzyme’s business from Massachusetts.
“We get offered everything from peanuts to trips to go to other states, but it’s not the gifts that are the most tempting, it’s flying in a helicopter over three different sites that meet all your specs and are pre-permitted,” Lawton said.
According to EOEA Secretary Stephen Pritchard, Romney’s proposed bill includes $1.8 million to expand the Office of Technical Assistance for Toxics Use Reduction, which helps manufacturers reduce their use of toxics and generation of hazardous byproducts.
Pritchard said the department hopes to work with biotech companies to educate local officials about biotechnology so they have a clear idea of what would be happening in their communities when they are considering permits for land use.
He said that he wants to ensure that the permitting process is “nimble and responsive,” but still holds high environmental standards.
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