The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) safeguards the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians by protecting the state’s air, water and natural resources. Guided by this mission, the department uses technology as a means to improve lives and preserve the environment.
For years, each of NCDEQ’s 11 divisions relied on paper applications, shared drives and emails to manage essential programs such as construction permits. Each division operated its own systems, creating duplicate work and fragmented records. The result was slow permit processing for citizens and missed revenue from untracked permit renewals.
“Before Laserfiche, we had multiple versions of the same file stored in different places, and no easy way to verify which was the most current,” said Chief Data Officer Miriam Patrocinio.
As North Carolina’s population and development grew, so did the department’s responsibilities — from managing a growing volume of annual construction permits to coordinating data for billions of dollars in federal environmental funding.
The NCDEQ needed a reliable, centralized system that could connect data, streamline processes and make compliance with environmental regulations easier for both staff and citizens.
Turning Change into Opportunity
When Patrocinio joined NCDEQ in 2022, the agency had used Laserfiche on a limited scale for several years, primarily within individual divisions managing their own processes. She quickly saw the potential of Laserfiche to underpin a unified digital transformation strategy that would align people, data and mission under one cohesive vision.
“Laserfiche was already established, supported by a small team that developed workflows and forms to support digitization,” she said. “Those efforts gave us a strong foundation to build on.” As a result, Laserfiche became the agency’s official document repository.
The next step was to build support. Patrocinio visited division offices statewide, listening to staff and learning what stood in their way. By connecting personally with teams and translating technical goals into everyday language, she built the trust needed for change to take root.
Building a Foundation for Statewide Data Management
Once staff were on board, Patrocinio led a structured effort to unify data management across the agency, outlining a four-phase plan:
- Conduct health assessments for each existing repository.
- Implement integrations, including a federated search tool across Laserfiche repositories and SharePoint to locate documents.
- Establish consistent standards for data management and governance.
- Develop public-facing resources that make environmental information more accessible.
After completing the first two phases, Patrocinio’s team eliminated redundancies and created a shared framework for collaboration.
Using the newly centralized system, NCDEQ deployed a federated search capability that allows staff to locate content across multiple Laserfiche repositories and SharePoint sites, eliminating information silos and improving visibility.
The department also integrated Laserfiche with Microsoft Dynamics to link environmental records and permit workflows as well as with its GIS (geographic information system) to provide spatial context for projects and support data-driven environmental decisions.
Together, these integrations strengthened the agency’s data ecosystem, giving staff a complete, real-time view of projects and their environmental context.
“With the agency’s data foundation in place, we could finally focus on transforming the processes that touch the public every day,” Patrocinio said.
Bringing Clarity and Speed to Permit Management
The first major application of this new foundation was one of NCDEQ’s most complex, high-volume workflows: the construction permit process for projects involving more than 1 acre of land.
Previously, developers submitted lengthy paper permit applications, renewals and payments by mail. Tracking compliance was cumbersome, and staff had no way to confirm that all fees were collected.
Patrocinio’s team rebuilt the process in Laserfiche, creating a digital foundation with secure document storage and online forms. Automated workflows route and track permit submission through payment and renewals. Integrations with NCDEQ’s internal payment and compliance systems keep permit information accurate and up to date, allowing the agency to provide more timely, reliable service to the public.
Now, applicants complete and submit electronic forms online instead of mailing paper applications or waiting for in-person processing. Once submitted, the application automatically moves through review and approval in Laserfiche, providing staff with real-time visibility into the status. Fees are generated and tracked digitally, so payments are processed quickly and securely. Applicants receive automatic updates and renewal reminders, reducing delays and improving environmental compliance.
With the new solution, NCDEQ collected over $1 million in permit fees and eliminated long-standing backlogs. For citizens and businesses, the shift to digital processing significantly reduced approval times, speeding up construction while maintaining rigorous environmental oversight.
Delivering Measurable Impact and Public Value
The project delivered results that reached far beyond a single process, including:
- A 47% reduction in records management costs within two years by eliminating physical storage and redundant workflows.
- Over $1 million in recovered permit revenue
- $5 billion in federal grant requests tracked, accelerating community access to environmental and infrastructure funding.
Automation within Laserfiche reduced manual data entry, improved accuracy and gave teams full visibility into document lifecycles. Staff reported higher satisfaction and less time spent chasing paper, while the public benefited from faster, more consistent service.
Beyond operational gains, the new system strengthened NCDEQ’s core mission of environmental stewardship. With proper permit tracking now automated, the agency can ensure stronger compliance with environmental regulations, preventing pollution and safeguarding North Carolina’s natural resources. Improved fee collection also allowed NCDEQ to hire additional permit reviewers, expanding the department’s capacity to support sustainable development across the state.
“Technology is only the tool,” Patrocinio said. “What drives us is protecting the environment, which means safeguarding the air, water and communities that make North Carolina home.”
Sustaining Progress for People and Nature
Building on this success, NCDEQ is expanding its Laserfiche strategy across all 11 divisions statewide. Patrocinio and her team are now standardizing data management practices in preparation for making more of the agency’s environmental data available to the public online.
“Laserfiche helped us modernize our systems and rethink what service means to the people and communities we serve, and to the environment we’re entrusted to protect,” she said. “We’ve built a foundation that will continue to grow and deliver value for years to come.”
