Big news from SCDOT – should speed up process!

Y’all know I have zero patience and want things done “yesterday”; but in my time in office I have learned how many times “red tape” severely blocks the work and results of people that are truly trying to help.

A state agency that faces this more than most is the SC Department of Transportation.

This week SCDOT announced a plan to cut 30% of outdated regulations — eliminating hundreds of unnecessary rules so projects move faster, permitting is streamlined, and innovation can thrive.

These improvements reflect the work House Republicans championed last year with H.3021, cutting red tape and requiring agencies to modernize their regulations. DOT is now putting those reforms into action — exactly as intended.

While we see lots of work happening around our community , there’s much more to do around the state and also here closer at home. Some projects ( Broad River Road Widening ) are managed through LOCAL government and I have been told we should begin to see “dirt move” by mid February 2026 on that particular Richland County Penny Tax Project.

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SCDOT Proposes 30% Regulatory Reduction, Eliminating Unnecessary and Burdensome Regulations to Streamline and Modernize Operations
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Columbia, S.C. (December 4, 2025) – Today, South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Secretary Justin Powell announced that the Department intends to cut its regulations by 30%. Today’s action follows a full internal regulatory review initiated by Secretary Powell earlier this year. The proposed reduction will remove outdated and redundant regulations.

“One of my first priorities as Secretary of Transportation was to see how we could be more efficient. As part of that effort, we have conducted an examination of the Department regulations to see if there were requirements that were no longer needed, didn’t work, or didn’t make sense. I am very proud to announce that, as part of our ongoing efforts to modernize SCDOT, we will be able to cut the total amount of our regulations by almost a third.”

SCDOT will be publishing the proposed regulatory changes in the State Register for submittal to the General Assembly in the 2026 legislative session. Members of the public are encouraged to submit comments about the proposed regulatory changes through the process outlined below.

We anticipate these changes will be posted to the State Register later this month to begin the formal comment process.

Comments should be submitted to Ginny Jones, Public Involvement Director, SCDOT Office of Public Engagement, 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, SC 29202. Comments may also be submitted by email to SCDOTpubliccomment@scdot.org.

Please note, any information provided, including names and addresses, is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

To learn more about projects around our state, visit the SCDOT website here !

The post Big news from SCDOT – should speed up process! appeared first on Nathan Ballentine.

Source: https://nathansnews.com/2025/12/big-news-from-scdot-should-speed-up-process/