Our Organization

The Governor's Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA) helps people navigate Washington's environment and business regulatory systems and collaborates for innovative process improvements.

All required information is easily accessible and government is experienced as helpful, reasonable and responsive.

We are public servants that embrace and encourage innovative approaches to foster collaboration and teamwork. Everyone contributes to the discovery of solutions. We continually learn and value honesty, respect and credibility.

We are a crosscutting agency that works with over 20 other state agencies to coordinate large permitting projects that involve multiple state and federal permitting agencies. We call these projects Multi-Agency Permitting Teams or MAP Teams.

We have developed and maintain several web based tools that help make government more transparent and make permitting information more accessible. These include:

• EZview;
• ePermitting;
• Project Questionnaire;
• Regulatory Handbook; and the
• Regulatory Improvements Survey Tool.

We also have an important role in the Results Washington effort.

Director's Office
    Dan McConnon, Director
    Crystal Ith, Executive Assistant

Information Center and Information Technology Systems
    Scott Hitchcock, Business Services Manager
    Sonja Gissberg, Business and Data Management Analyst
    Rachael Lindstedt, Business and Data Management Analyst
    Sonya Moore, Business and Data Management Analyst
    Michael McNabb, Information Technology Systems Architect

Regulatory Improvement Consultants
    Shanelle Pierce, Regulatory Improvement Consultant Manager
    Kelly Craig, Regulatory Improvement Consultant
    Ben Rapone, Regulatory Data Analyst
    Penny Rarick, Regulatory Improvement Consultant

Information Center
We help citizens and businesses understand and navigate Washington's environmental permitting and business licensing processes. We answer questions about local, state, and federal permits and regulatory requirements and research project-specific questions.  

If we do not have the information you need, we will connect you with the right people in local, state, or federal agencies.

Regulatory Improvement Consultants

Our consultants help citizens, industry and businesses navigate Washington’s environmental and business regulatory systems. Consultants provide assistance about compliance with environmental regulations and permitting process as well as assistance on licensing and registering your business. Please see need help with environmental permitting for more information.

Additionally, our consultants collaborate with government regulatory partners to do things like:

• Work jointly across local, state and federal agencies to update and maintain the Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application (JARPA) form.
• Coordinate permit timeliness implementation, which has helped state regulatory agencies understand better how to improve its permitting processes.
• Report on the effects of significant legislative rule implementation by state regulatory agencies.

Information Technology Systems
We developed technologies to better assist you with your projects:

• EZview
• ePermitting
• Project Questionnaire
• Regulatory Handbook
• www.business.wa.gov

We provide services statewide, contact us at the information below for assistance:

Phone: 1-800-917-0043 (toll-free) or 1-360-725-0628
E-mail: help@oria.wa.gov

Physical address
905 Plum Street SE, Suite 300
Olympia, Washington  98501
Driving directions

Mailing address
Post Office Box 43125
Olympia, Washington 98504-3125

We're available Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. See our Contact Us page for various was to reach us.

ORIA was created within the Governor's Office in 2002 by the Washington State Legislature and was initially called the Office of Permit Assistance (RCW 43.42).

In 2003, the Legislature changed the name to Office of Regulatory Assistance and expanded its duties to include small business assistance and the full range of regulatory issues.

In 2005, Governor Gregoire expanded the office in support of her Executive Order 06-02 on Regulatory Improvement.

In 2013, Governor Inslee renamed the office to include the word innovation to reflect his interest in pursuing innovative solutions to regulatory improvements.

ORIA works with its partners to make permitting, licensing, and regulatory processes easier and more effective. Here are some of our current activities:

EZview

Track projects on the EZview website. ORIA partnered with the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) to develop this resource for local jurisdictions and state agencies. EZview provides project dedicated websites for local governments and state agencies to plan, share, document and collaborate. Project dedicated websites provide open, accessible and up-to-date project information. EZview is safe, secure and cloud-based. Check it out ...

ePermitting (JARPA)

Local, state and federal agencies work with the Governor's Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance to update and maintain the Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application (JARPA) form. Larger print, more space for answers, and help links make the form easier to use.

Download the JARPA here.

New Regulatory Improvement Ideas

We are always looking for new ideas to help improve the regulatory environment in Washington State. If you have ideas to share, please click on the link below. We want to hear from you!

Tell Us Your Ideas for regulatory improvement

Washington Rulemaking Process

Do you have a question about rulemaking and how it affects the permitting process? See our rulemaking page.