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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 2, 2024 09:59 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Camera Bartolotta |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | DEP Permitting Appeals |
| In the near future I will reintroduce legislation to ensure the appellate process for certain categories of permitting decisions made by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are consistent with federal law. It was SB 1216 in the previous Session. The federal Natural Gas Act (NGA) dictates that the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit shall have exclusive jurisdiction over an appeal which challenges any state agency’s action in either approving or denying a permit when the state agency acts on the basis of federal law. Despite this clear mandate, our Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently ruled that an appeal challenging DEP’s approval of a permit was properly filed before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), rather than the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The court's decision in this regard allows for an additional layer of administrative review of a permitting decision before the appeal can be heard and decided by the Third Circuit, contrary to the express provisions and the clear intent of the NGA. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. |