The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is introducing two programs to hire more staff and expand permitting capacity at the agency, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced.
The initiatives to speed the permitting process are the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Economic Development (SPEED) program and the Chapter 105 Joint Permit Pilot Program. Both programs are aimed at helping the DEP continue to reduce backlogs and process permits more quickly.
“Pennsylvanians deserve a state government that moves at the speed of business and processes their permits quickly to ensure Pennsylvanians receive a timely response,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Under my administration, DEP has already hired more hardworking staff and cleared a backlog of more than 1,000 permits – and I’m proud that we secured funding in the bipartisan state budget to continue that important work.
“We are going to continue to carefully review each permit to protect public health and safety, while moving as quickly as we can to get stuff done for the people we serve,” added Shapiro.
The SPEED program will provide additional flexibility to permit applicants by allowing applicants to choose to have a DEP-verified and qualified professional conduct the initial review of the application. DEP staff will review the recommendations of the qualified professional and either make a final permit decision or identify technical deficiencies to the applicant.
Starting this fall, DEP will solicit qualified professionals to review applications for certain Air Quality Plan Approvals (Chapter 127), earth disturbance (Chapter 102), dam safety (Chapter 105), and individual water obstruction and encroachment (Chapter 105) permits. Applicants for those permits will agree to pay review fees incurred by the qualified professional, in addition to permit application fees.
The SPEED program and updates to Chapter 105 permitting process are a part of the Shapiro Administration’s Permit Modernization efforts. The programs are building on prior efforts to modernize permit processes and reduce permit backlogs.
DEP has also implemented the PAyback program, the Shapiro Administration’s online money-back guarantee system and is reducing backlogs and speeding up processing timelines.
DEP is addressing the backlog of permits that were overdue before the implementation of PAyback. The department has hired 15 staff members to process permits. Since hiring the additional staff members and cataloging and reviewing DEP’s nearly 800 available types of permits, licenses and certifications, the backlog of permits has been reduced by nearly 60 percent as of July 17.
“DEP is continuing to improve our permit processes to make sure we are moving at the speed of business – without sacrificing the environmental and public health safeguards that protect our air, land, and water,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Both of these programs will help DEP move further, faster for Pennsylvania. These continued improvements will benefit communities and businesses in having more certainty about their projects – whether it is a new development or repairing the dam at a beloved local park.”