On August 12, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it will introduce two new programs to hire more staff and expand permitting capacity at the agency, thanks to investments in the 2024-25 bipartisan budget signed into law by Governor Shapiro.

Pennsylvanians deserve a government that works effectively and efficiently to get them answers and keep the economy moving – the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Economic Development (SPEED) program and Chapter 105 Joint Permit Pilot Program will help 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,” said Gov. Josh Shapiro. “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.”

“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.”

These programs build on previous efforts to modernize permit processes and reduce permit backlogs.

Chapter 102 Permits

A new pilot program for common construction permits (Chapter 102 individual erosion and sedimentation control permits) was launched in 10 counties and reduced permit review timelines by an estimated 73 days.

PAyback Program

DEP has also implemented the PAyback program, the Shapiro Administration’s online money-back guarantee system and begun making significant progress in reducing backlogs and speeding up processing timelines.

Since implementing the program DEP has processed 14,947 permits and has not had to refund a single application fee.

SPEED Permit Program

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. DEP will have final authority over all permit decisions.

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 any review fees incurred by the qualified professional, in addition to permit application fees.

DEP is continuing to identify process improvements in its permitting programs.

Chapter 105 Permits

DEP has significantly improved the Chapter 105 Water Obstruction and Encroachment General Permit registration process by updating the registration form and instructions to make them easier to understand.

DEP is also launching a new Chapter 105 Pilot Program for Individual Joint Permit Applications that should reduce errors in applications and cut the total time to process an application by 63 days.

Similar to the Chapter 102 Pilot Program, launched on May 1, 2024, applicants will need to meet with DEP prior to submitting a permit application.

The Chapter 105 individual Permit Pilot Program will give review priority to publicly funded energy projects and environmental restoration projects.

The SPEED program and updates to Chapter 105 permitting process are a part of the Shapiro Administration’s Permit Modernization efforts, which also include-- 

-- Formalizing a pre-application meeting process to better inform potential applicants of the permitting process and the specific permits they need. The Permit Application Consultation Tool (PACT) is available online.

-- Ongoing User Experience (UX) research with key stakeholders that will provide useful insights into what they need and value during the application process. The goal of the customer experience initiative is to understand and improve the applicant’s experience and reduce bottlenecks in review. 

The Shapiro Administration has already made significant progress by improving or eliminating the long wait times to receive hundreds of permits, licenses, and certifications.

In his first month in office, Gov. Shapiro signed Executive Order 2023-07 directing all state agencies to standardize timeframes for how they issue permits, licenses, and certifications, and directed his Administration to create this money-back guarantee tool to request refunds when the Commonwealth does not meet those timeframes.

The Shapiro Administration’s efforts to enhance and improve permitting are showing early success as DEP improves online permitting, online payment, and delivers on-time permit decisions.

DEP has also pledged to address the backlog of permits that were overdue before the implementation of PAyback and has seen a drastic reduction in the permit backlog.

DEP has hired 15 new staff members dedicated to processing permits, thanks to investments from the 2023-24 budget signed into law by Gov. Shapiro and has utilized some staff working overtime when needed to address the backlog.

Since hiring the additional staff members and cataloging and reviewing DEP’s nearly 800 available types of permits, licenses and certifications, DEP has reduced the backlog of permits by nearly 1,279 authorizations – or 60 percent – as of July 17, 2024.             

The pilot program is available now for Chapter 105 Individual Joint Permit applications for projects statewide. DEP regional offices will collectively accept up to 14 individual joint permit applications per quarter (56 per year) for consideration under the pilot program.

For more information on the Chapter 105 individual Permit Pilot Program visit DEP’s  Stream and Wetland Regulatory Program (pa.gov) or contact DEP’s regional office covering your county.

Visit DEP’s Permit Modernization webpage for more information on permit review improvements.

For more information on environmental programs in Pennsylvania, visit DEP’s website, Report Emergencies, Submit Environmental Complaints; Click Here to sign up for DEP’s newsletter; sign up for DEP’s eNotice; visit DEP’s Blog,  Like DEP on Facebook, Follow DEP on Twitter and visit DEP’s YouTube Channel.

[Posted: August 12, 2024]

8/19/2024