Oversight Board launches stronger push for lawmakers to complete the pending unified measure; after decades of failed attempts, is this the one?
Puerto Rico has tried to fix its permitting system multiple times since the early 1990s. But the system remains fragmented across nearly 100 legal instruments and 45 separate laws, according to a December 2025 task force report, and businesses continue to cite permitting delays as one of the biggest obstacles to investing and growing on the island.
More recently, this newspaper has reported actively on efforts by the Financial Oversight and Management Board to pressure local authorities to enact pending legislation.
In an August 27 letter to Gov. Jenniffer González Colón, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, and House Speaker Carlos Méndez Núñez, FOMB Executive Director Robert F. Mujica Jr. urged the three branches to begin immediate joint technical work on a single Planning and Permitting Code, warning that late-stage disagreements between the chambers could delay one of the Fiscal Plan’s core structural reforms.
The request itself is procedural. What makes it consequential is the leverage behind it. Unlike every prior attempt at permitting reform, this one cannot become law and quietly fail to change practice on the ground without the Oversight Board’s sign-off. Any enacted permitting code must be submitted to the Board under PROMESA Section 204(a), and its implementing regulations, which will determine whether the new law actually speeds up permits or simply renames the old bureaucracy, require separate Board approval under Section 204(b)(4).
That gives the Board something no previous reform effort had: the statutory ability to withhold approval until the reform demonstrably works.
What the letter requires
The Board emphasized that success must be measured not by the enactment of a new code alone, but by whether the reform “materially reduces the time, procedures, costs, uncertainty, and inefficient discretion associated with obtaining permits,” according to the letter.
The Oversight Board asked the branches to convene a joint working session “as soon as practicable and before final legislative consideration,” noting that early collaboration is the most effective way to avoid post-enactment delays or corrective action. The Board requested the latest clean and comparative versions of the draft substitute bill for Senate Bills 1173 and 1183, along with any fiscal and economic impact materials.
The letter outlines four essential outcomes for the final legislation:
1. A uniform legal and regulatory framework across Commonwealth and municipal offices.
2. Objective and digitally traceable procedures with clear accountability.
3. An operationally viable and fiscally sustainable system with fees tied to services.
4. Explicit preservation of federal requirements and Title V’s expedited permitting process for critical projects.
Why HB 1213 is the vehicle
The Oversight Board also enclosed its June 4 preliminary review of House Bill 1213, which seeks to establish a new Planning and Permitting Code by repealing 15 laws, amending 29 others, and harmonizing 29 special statutes.
In that earlier assessment, the Board found HB 1213 “is not inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan” as drafted, noting that Puerto Rico continues to have “one of the most burdensome permitting environments in the U.S., which impedes growth and investment.”
HB 1213’s proposed reforms, including a comprehensive Single Permits Regulation, digital traceability, uniform procedures, and clearer mechanisms for updating territorial plans, align with Fiscal Plan requirements to reduce permitting delays, unlock private investment, and accelerate reconstruction.
The Board said the bill’s implementation should be feasible within existing budget resources if the government maintains cost-recovery mechanisms and efficiently reallocates personnel and systems.
However, the Board stressed that its June 4 determination is preliminary and non-binding. Any enacted permitting code must still be submitted under PROMESA § 204(a), and its implementing regulations will require Oversight Board approval under § 204(b)(4).
The Board said it shares the elected branches’ interest in a permitting system that is “clear, uniform, predictable, digitally implementable, fiscally viable, and capable of supporting Puerto Rico’s growth and reconstruction,” and expressed confidence that timely collaboration can produce an agreed-upon measure to improve competitiveness and economic growth.
