Nearly a year after signing a first-of-its-kind agreement to streamline historic preservation reviews in Utah, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District and the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) are already seeing measurable results.
For permit applicants, that means fewer administrative hurdles and faster decisions. For agency staff, it means less paperwork and more time to focus on projects with the potential to affect historic properties.
“The agreement helps us deliver permit decisions more efficiently while maintaining the environmental and cultural resource protections required by the National Historic Preservation Act and the Clean Water Act,” said Jason Gipson, Utah regulatory section chief.
Before the agreement, nearly every Section 404 permit requiring National Historic Preservation Act review also required formal consultation with the Utah SHPO, regardless of whether historic properties were affected. Today, USACE project managers document “no effect” and “no adverse effect” determinations as part of the permit process and include them in an annual report to SHPO. Only projects involving adverse effects now require formal consultation.
In fiscal year 2025, approximately 85 Utah permit actions required individual consultation letters to SHPO. Since the agreement was implemented, 62 permits have been issued, but only three required formal consultation.
Documentation that previously took days or weeks can now often be completed in a single day, helping reduce the average processing time for general permits from 57.5 days in fiscal year 2025 to 45 days so far in fiscal year 2026.
The agreement has also reduced the administrative workload for both agencies. During the first six months, 18 individual consultations were eliminated, and officials estimate the agreement will avoid approximately 50 to 60 consultations annually in future years. That translates into fewer consultation letters, fewer review cycles, and less time spent tracking correspondence.
Importantly, the streamlined process does not reduce protections for historic properties.
Projects with the potential to adversely affect historic resources continue to undergo full consultation with the Utah SHPO.
“The agreement changes only how routine, such as “no effect” and “no adverse effect,” determinations are handled,” said Gipson. “It does not, however, alter the standards used to evaluate projects, nor reduce mitigation requirements when adverse effects are identified.”
By eliminating routine consultations, Utah SHPO staff can devote more time to complex adverse-effect reviews, helping those projects move through the consultation process more efficiently. At the same time, USACE project managers have greater control over permit schedules and are less likely to experience delays while waiting for the consultation process to conclude.
For the Sacramento District and its state partners, the agreement demonstrates that modernizing government processes does not require compromising resource protection. Instead, the eliminations of unnecessary administrative steps while preserving rigorous review where it matters most, provides benefits for all involved – permit applicants, regulatory agencies, and historic preservation alike.
As USACE works to improve permitting efficiency, Utah’s agreement offers an example of how reinventing a process can yield improvements. Due to its success, this agreement is currently being used as a starting point in discussions with other SHPOs across the South Pacific Division for similar agreements.
“It’s a win for everybody when we can reduce paperwork, shorten permitting timelines and allow specialists to focus on projects that need the greatest attention,” said Gipson.