Regulatory relief is a long-simmering quest by California businesses to reduce the costs of compliance by eliminating redundancies among the many state government agencies and consolidating permits.
Regulatory relief proponents, following the private enterprise trail blazed by FedEx and UPS, recently added a technology component – interagency coordination and permit tracking online and via smartphone apps.
They would also add standard features — adapted from consumer and business websites — like immediate updates on business inquiries to a regulatory agency and two-way communication with an assigned staff person.
Now there is an ag tech imperative, thanks to the drought and climate change. Managing water is the new normal. Managed water requires a massive and urgent infusion of system integration, wireless sensors, remotely operated devices (like valves and emitters), robotics and real-time data analytics from space (NASA satellites) to aquifers.
The California Water Foundation (CWF), at the behest of the Governor’s Office, just published the consensus of a remarkably large and diverse group of stakeholders.
On page 29, there is Recommendation 6d, Regulatory Relief:
“A new regulatory groundwater management program should be structured to eliminate redundancies with other related programs, including reporting of groundwater levels. Reporting requirements should be streamlined to minimize burdens on (local water districts). State Water Resources Control Board, in coordination with Department of Water Resources, should have responsibility for identifying and implementing regulatory streamlining and efficiency.”
(Full report here)
Meanwhile, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GOBiz) is working on a regulatory relief pilot program at Cal/EPA, home of the water board.
The serendipity factor doesn’t often happen in government.
As he ramps up the pilot, GOBiz Director Kish Rajan – a former telcomm executive – is open to private developers. "We want to work with private app developers as we automate," he said.
"Opening government functionalities will create more communication between citizens and their agencies – it will take the lid off," Rajan said. "It’s too difficult to access data. That’s why we’re automating."
For effective and efficient regulatory relief, the regulated communities and the regulators must collaborate to quickly (in the case of ag tech and water management) plan what are the priorities and how they will be achieved.
Rajan is building a lane in the information highway for irrigators, water managers and ag tech developers.
For agriculture and technology – as well as the California economy – the stakes are high. As the Sacramento Bee reported (5/6/14), "Exports of non-manufactured goods – chiefly agricultural produce and raw materials – in March totaled $1.93 billion, up almost 8.5%" over a year-ago. Total farmgate value in 2012 was north of $40 billion, according to the USDA.
It is a fragile economic sector, now dependent on ag tech to manage water. Without water, there is no food.
For applied ag tech, every plant is a customer.
It all converges in regulatory relief, a noble pilot from GOBiz and a historic drought.
Stay tuned.
