6 full lessons
Written in plain language, illustrated, and kept as a reference afterward.
Working skills · the part that takes the longest
Siting, Permitting, and Public Process
Who decides what, in what order, and how a normal person takes part: the agencies, the reviews, the hearings, and the file you keep the whole way through.
Six lessons on getting permission: which agency decides what, the federal layer and where it applies, the state and local layer that usually decides your timeline, reading a site honestly before you spend money on an application, taking part in a public process without dreading it, and keeping the file that lets you answer a question five years later.
6 lessons · about 12 contact hours
$125 at the regular rate, or $125 at the openly offered Driftline rate. Add review for $60 at the regular rate or $40 at the Driftline rate. Jules reads and grades one real piece of work, passing at 80 percent. Review is optional. This course is not accredited and carries no college credit or continuing education units.
Take this class
Pay once, and it is yours to come back to. Pick how you want to take it.
On your own
The whole class, the practice work, and the knowledge checks. No pass score, no graded work, no certificate gate.
With Jules reading your work
Everything above, plus one real piece of work, "A permitting path, in order", that Jules reads and grades against a rubric you can see before you start. You pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
Already taking this class? Add review later for $60 at the regular rate or $40 at the Driftline rate.
12 contact hours
Measured per lesson, with written outcomes, so your time is recorded honestly.
No-pressure checks
Clear answers and explanations, unlimited tries, and nothing sent to a gradebook.
Region aware
Rules are shown by state with the source and the date we checked it.
The complete course
Lesson 1 · 2 h
Who Decides What
- Name the federal, state, local, and tribal roles in a siting decision
- Separate control of the bottom, the water column, the structure, and the product
- Explain why no single agency can approve a whole project
Lesson 2 · 2 h
The Federal Layer
- Describe why in-water structures trigger a federal review
- Say when a discharge permit is in play for a land-based system
- Find the current rule text rather than relying on a summary
Lesson 3 · 2 h
The State and Local Layer
- Identify the state body that leases or authorizes the site
- Describe how coastal zone review fits with other permits
- Explain the separate state role in product safety approval
Lesson 4 · 2 h
Reading a Site Before You Apply
- Describe a proposed site in the terms a reviewer will use
- Spot conflicts with navigation, habitat, and existing users early
- State openly what you do not yet know about a site
Lesson 5 · 2 h
The Public Process
- Explain how a comment period works and what makes a comment useful
- Present a project in plain language to a public audience
- Respond to objections in a way that keeps the room workable
Lesson 6 · 2 h
The File You Keep
- Keep a permit file that survives staff turnover on both sides
- Track conditions, reporting duties, and renewal dates
- Describe what to do when a condition can no longer be met
What this course covers where you live
We say plainly how well each part of the country is covered, rather than implying the whole country is written to the same depth.
- West Coast: sourced and ready
- Alaska: sourced and ready
- Northeast: sourced and ready
- Mid-Atlantic and Southeast: sourced and ready
- Gulf: sourced and ready
- Great Lakes and inland: sourced and ready
- Hawaii and the Pacific islands: sourced and ready
Alaska: aquatic farm leases run through Natural Resources and Fish and Game
An Alaska aquatic farm needs a state land lease from the Division of Mining, Land and Water and an operation permit from Fish and Game. The two applications travel together, so read both before you pick a site.
Alaska Division of Mining, Land and Water, Aquatic Farm Leasing Application Process · checked 2026-09-19Northeast: leases are state by state, and Maine publishes the clearest path
Maine's Department of Marine Resources posts its standard lease applications and forms in full. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut each run their own process through their marine or agriculture agency, so start with your own state's page.
Maine Department of Marine Resources, Aquaculture Leases · checked 2026-09-19Rhode Island and Connecticut keep their own aquaculture offices
Rhode Island reviews aquaculture through the Coastal Resources Management Council, and Connecticut runs shellfish through the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture. Both publish current application steps.
Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, Aquaculture · checked 2026-09-19Mid-Atlantic and Southeast: shellfish leases sit with the marine agency
Virginia leases through the Marine Resources Commission, North Carolina through the Division of Marine Fisheries, Georgia through Coastal Resources, and Florida through the Department of Agriculture's submerged land leasing program.
Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Shellfish Division · checked 2026-09-19
If you want Jules to read your work
Everyone gets the same lessons, practice work, and knowledge checks. Add review for $60 at the regular rate or $40 at the openly offered Driftline rate. You get one real assignment that Jules reads and grades. You can see exactly how it is judged before you start, you pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is still not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
The assignment
A permitting path, in order
Map the real agencies, in the real sequence, for one real project.
For a project you define, map the permitting path. List every agency involved at federal, state, and local level, what each one decides, the order the steps must happen in, and where the public gets to comment. Give your best honest estimate of the timeline and say what it depends on. Where an agency does not publish a timeline, write that plainly rather than estimating. Cite each agency page with the date you checked.
How it is graded
Every agency found · 25 points
No level of government is missing, and each agency's actual decision is stated correctly.
Sequence right, dependencies shown · 25 points
The order reflects what must precede what, including steps that cannot start until another finishes.
Public process included · 25 points
Comment periods, hearings, and notification requirements appear where they really fall.
Timelines honest about what is unknown · 25 points
Published timelines are cited; unpublished ones are named as unknown, not estimated into fact.
100 points in total. You pass at 80. Jules grades what you worked out, not your formatting or your word count.
Where it can take you
Permitting is specific to your site and your state. This course teaches you how the process works and how to prepare, and it does not replace advice from your agencies or from a qualified consultant or attorney.
This course does not carry accreditation, credit, or continuing education units, and completing it does not count toward any outside credential. It is written to the structure a continuing education standard expects, with measured hours, written outcomes, and a completion record you can keep.