65959.

 The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the California Environmental Protection Agency was established to enhance the state’s protection of the environment by, among other things, more effectively coordinating the permit actions of the departments or boards within the agency which issue environmental permits and by ensuring timely responses to applicants for permits in order to reduce costs associated with compliance with the state’s environmental protection statutes and programs. It is the intent of this article to provide a mechanism by which the California Environmental Protection Agency may further this objective of environmental protection by bringing relevant agencies together to foster the integration of requests for information, promote speedy and cost-effective compliance, and synchronize, to the maximum extent feasible, the environmental permit requirements imposed on applicants by the departments or boards within the agency.

65959.1.

 For purposes of this article, “environmental permit” means any permit issued by the Department of Toxic Substances Control for the storage, treatment, handling, or disposal of hazardous waste, as defined in Section 25117 of the Health and Safety Code, or any waste discharge requirements issued by the State Water Resources Control Board or a California regional water quality control board.

65959.2.

 (a)  At the request of an applicant for more than one environmental permit, the Secretary for Environmental Protection may, using existing staff and budgetary resources, convene a permitting team for the project composed of permit writers and other appropriate personnel from the board or department responsible for review of the project and the issuance of an environmental permit. The permitting team shall identify all statutory and regulatory requirements for the issuance of the environmental permits and provide that information to the applicant in order to facilitate, to the maximum extent feasible, the uniform, consistent, and expeditious processing of environmental permit applications.

(b)  At the request of the applicant, the Secretary for Environmental Protection may solicit the participation of relevant federal, state, and local agencies on the permitting team to facilitate cooperation, reduce duplication, and assist in conflict resolution.

65959.3.

 This article does not confer any new or additional authority over the issuance of environmental permits on the California Environmental Protection Agency or diminish in any way the existing authority of any other state or local agency.