About VPT

The first version of Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT) was created in 2022 by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as the Permitting Enhancement and Evaluation Platform (PEEP) to help permittees, DEQ staff, and the public to track the permitting and approval process of DEQ permit applications. In 2024, PEEP functionality expanded into VPT to include statuses of permit, license, and certification applications at DEQ, Virginia Energy (ENERGY), the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Additional agencies will follow.

VPT Mission Statement

Virginia Permit Transparency brings transparency and efficiency to the Commonwealth of Virginia's permitting, licensing, and certification processes by providing a centralized platform to track the daily status and timeline of critical steps as the application progresses.

View Contact Information

How to Use VPT

VPT displays the status of applications. Search applications or filter results by fields such as agency, application number, locality, and more.

VPT Tutorial

Watch the video or read the manual for step-by-step guidance on how to use the VPT platform.

VPT Instruction Manual 

VPT tracks the permit application process for participating permits by displaying details of each critical step in the permit process, which include:
  • The status of each critical step of the permit process
  • The target timeline and actual timeline for each critical task and the permit as a whole
  • The accountable party for each critical step, including Commonwealth of Virginia agencies, Federal agencies, and public customers

Permit Types

VPT manages over 50 types of permits across multiple Commonwealth of Virginia agencies.

All VPT Permit Types 

The VPT release schedule:
January 2024

May/June 2024

Please note the below definitions of the most commonly-used terms in the system.

Applicant/Sponsor

Entity seeking a permit or other action required.

Critical Steps

VPT displays the critical steps and substeps necessary for each approval action process. These critical steps do not include every step of an approval process; instead they define the principal tasks that make up the process.

External/Other Agency

Undefined external agency(ies) that may be involved in an approval process.

Locality

Local governing body.

Step Assignee

The step assignee is the party responsible for completing a step. Step assignees include the originating agency, coordinating agencies and parties, agents, and applicants. See the VPT Step Assignees/Agency Acronyms section below for a list of step assignees included in VPT.

Application Process Timeline

The application process timeline establishes a reasonable timeline for how long an approval action process should take if every step assignee responds in a timely manner. The timeline is represented by the horizontal grey bars for each step and substep, and the red vertical line defining the overall application process timeline for obtaining approval. Application process timelines may be based on regulatory deadlines. When an approval action processing timeline is running behind the overall application process timeline, a new revised final decision date will display as a blue-gray vertical line.

This list contains the acronyms for each party assigned steps in the permitting process. Please use the list to identify which parties are responsible for each approval activity.

Acronym Definition
FLM Federal land managers
USACE Army Corps of Engineers
USDA - NRS U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
USEPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USNOAA U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
VDACS Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
VDCR Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
VDEQ Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
VDHR Virginia Department of Historic Resources
VDOAV Virginia Department of Aviation
ENERGY Virginia Department of Energy
VDOF Virginia Department Of Forestry
VDWR Virginia Department Of Wildlife Resources
VESCP Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program
VIMS Virginia Institute Of Marine Science
VMRC Virginia Marine Resources Commission
VPDC Virginia Planning District Commission

Contact Information

For Specific Application Questions

For questions about a specific permit application, please use the Contact Project Manager button on the Permit Application Details page.

For agency specific questions, please view the Participating Agencies page for each agency's contact information.

View Participating Agencies

For Technical Support

For help troubleshooting the VPT website, please email:

VPT-Support@vita.virginia.gov