Regulators looking at the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas project are assuring pipeline proponents that the permit application process will not take as long as the environmental assessment process, which has taken four years and counting.

Members of the 17 regulatory boards and agencies that will be involved with the proposed pipeline are working together to avoid duplicating each other's work as they prepare to issue the approximately 6,900 licences, permits and other authorizations the project will need if the National Energy Board decides to let the 1,200-kilometre pipeline proceed.

"We think we've been pretty progressive," James Boraski, an official with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, told CBC News on Thursday.

"We've taken the time to bring some staff on in advance of the final applications being filed, so it's given us a good opportunity to do some training and development."

Boraski said they've had some success to date, reducing a list of 1,500 possible terms and conditions to about 600. They hope to reduce that number even further, he said.

The energy board's decision could come in about 18 months, after it receives the report of the Joint Review Panel, the assessment panel that has been examining the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the proposed pipeline.

Imperial Oil, the main proponent in the pipeline project, has said it will provide any help the boards may need. Company officials said they want at least 3,000 authorizations in hand before deciding to build the pipeline.