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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 15, 2023 01:22 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Doug Mastriano and Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr. |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Streamlining DEP Permit Decisions |
| Soon, we plan to introduce legislation to enact a permitting process that is reliable and timely. Pennsylvania has the potential to be an economic powerhouse, but the flaws of our current permit approval process present a significant barrier for companies looking to put down their roots here. A flawed permit review process has real world consequences. In 2021, US Steel pulled out of a $1.5 billion project in southwest PA that would have created 1,000 jobs. “Permitting delays” was one of the main reasons cited for the decision as US Steel confronted over two years of such delays. Our legislation will require DEP to render a decision on a permit application within 45 days. If an administratively complete application is accompanied by an affidavit executed by a licensed professional engineer affirming that the contents of the application are true and correct and that requirements for the issuance of the permit or plan approval have been satisfied, the permit application will be deemed approved. This legislation does not reduce any legal requirements or environmental protection measures for the issuance of any permits, nor does it weaken the ability of DEP to review permit applications. Setting reasonable expectations is not something that would be unique to Pennsylvania. In New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation has a strict deadline of 60 days from the receipt of the application for certain applications and a 15-day deadline for all other permit applications. In California, the Permit Streamlining Act requires agencies to inform the applicant within 30 days if their application is complete. We can put a stop to our commonwealth losing out on good paying, blue-collar jobs. Please join us as a co-sponsor. If you have any questions regarding this bill, please contact Joshua Herman at jherman@pasen.gov or Noah Glattke at nglattke@pasen.gov |
Introduced as SB705