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Friends of the Earth recently released A Survey of Bay Area Permitting Procedures for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. The survey expounds upon several excellent recommendations:

  1. Adopt specific permitting policy for EV chargers and train staff
  2. Ensure public access to comprehensive EV-related information
    1. Post EV charger specific website pages
    2. Develop a comprehensive EV charger guide
  3. Streamline permit access
    1. Reduce the number of government office visits
    2. Reduce the number of home visits
      1. Allow self-certification for simple installations
      2. Condense compliance review inspections for more complicated installations
    3. Establish set fees for simple installations
    4. Process EV charger permits on a priority basis
    5. Discontinue plan requirements for simple installations
    6. Establish 24-hour inspections request systems
  4. Other policies to reduce the cost of electric charger installations
    1. Require new construction to include EV chargers, or at minimum wiring components for later EV charger installation

Additionally, there is specific information on permitting in many of the Bay Area cities, a flowchart for common residential installations, and a sample EV charger installation guide.