HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has recently rolled out a unique pilot program that will potentially expedite the review process for construction stormwater discharge permits across ten counties. The DEP anticipates the program will trim an impressive 73 business days off the average processing span for Chapter 102 Individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit applications.
Jessica Shirley, DEP Acting Secretary, elaborates on the Department’s objectives, “Our primary aim with our permit modernization initiatives is to manage permit applications as efficiently as possible, while still upholding the top-tier standards Pennsylvania residents rightfully anticipate and warrant from the DEP.” The DEP annually reviews in excess of 40,000 permit applications across varying types. Lessons learned from this pilot program will inform revisions in other permits.
Pennsylvania residents located in Allegheny, Beaver, Bucks, Chester, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, and York counties can take advantage of this program beginning May 1, 2024. The Conservation Districts in these designated counties will consider a maximum of three Individual NPDES permit applications per quarter under the pilot program.
The pilot program mandates prospective applicants to engage in two separate pre-application meetings with Conservation District and/or DEP staff. During these meetings, the District and DEP will evaluate the project’s eligibility for the pilot program and assist the applicant to ensure the application is complete. Applicants are also required to employ a licensed professional to prepare the stormwater plan and oversee the project.
The DEP’s Permit Modernization efforts comprise several elements, including convening a quarterly Agriculture Permitting Stakeholder Roundtable, formalizing a pre-application meeting process, and conducting User Experience (UX) research among key stakeholders. These varied initiatives are all aimed at enhancing communication, streamlining processes, and providing robust and constructive user experiences during the application process.
The administration of Governor Shapiro has already made strides in reducing waiting periods and bureaucratic hurdles associated with permit, license, and certification issuance. Governor Shapiro has directed standardization of timeframes for issuance and a ‘money-back guarantee’ policy for refunds when the Commonwealth fails to meet these timeframes, resulting in noteworthy improvements in the DEP’s online permitting system and delivery of permit decisions.
The Pennsylvania DEP has successfully spearheaded the PAyback program, an online money-back guarantee system. This program, led by the Office of Transformation and Opportunity and the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience, has facilitated substantial progress in reducing backlogs and accelerating processing timelines. Remarkably, no refunds had been requested by applicants citing failure to meet review timelines as of November 1, 2023.
Additionally, the DEP has made a firm commitment to address a backlog of overdue permits. Driven by the appointment of 15 new staff members dedicated to permit processing and occasional overtime work, the DEP has managed a significant reduction of 41% in the permit backlog as of March 1, 2024.
Looking to the future, the DEP has several other modernization projects in its pipeline. It commits to keep the public abreast of enhancements and updates on review timeliness data as these projects reach fruition. This innovative approach not only promises to accelerate processes and improve interactions but may also set a benchmark for other state agencies. The potential implications of these procedures, should they prove successful, could bring about a transformative shift in the way that Pennsylvania, and perhaps eventually the nation, operates its permitting processes.
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