Harrisburg, PA – Last week in PennLive, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley
praised Governor Josh Shapiro’s commitment to ensuring Pennsylvania operates at the speed of 21st century business by modernizing the state’s permitting process while remaining steadfast in his belief in the DEP’s responsibility to protect public health and safety.
Programs like the new Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) Program, PAyback, and the new PA Permit Fast Track program are keeping Pennsylvania moving at the speed of business.
Read Secretary Shirley’s full opinion in PennLive here; excerpts below:
Protecting public health means enforcing environmental regulations while helping businesses thrive.
By DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley, 11/20/24
Business moves fast in the 21st century. As Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), I know that our permits can make or break a project or a business seeking to operate in Pennsylvania. Likewise, the people of Pennsylvania rely on DEP to protect public health and safety by enforcing our environmental laws and regulations.
Balancing these important roles of protecting the public while enabling businesses to expand and thrive is our constant mission, and while DEP has faced challenges at times – often due to a lack of resources and staff – I’m proud to report that the Shapiro Administration is making real progress at improving our permitting processes. DEP, alongside the Governor’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity, is making enormous strides in reviewing more than 45,000 permits every single year, all while maintaining the levels of environmental and public health protection that Pennsylvanians expect and deserve.
Under the leadership of Gov. Josh Shapiro, we are looking at ways to improve our processes. We’ve heard from applicants who want to know more about the review of their application, and what to expect. And we’ve also heard from residents who want to know more about proposed development located near where they live, work, and go to school.
DEP is also working to reduce the permit application backlog and modernize our permitting processes. Since hiring additional staff members and cataloging and reviewing DEP’s nearly 800 available types of permits, DEP has reduced the backlog by nearly 1,750 permits – that’s a 75 percent reduction – as of November 15, 2024.
DEP will continue to get stuff done for Pennsylvanians. That means getting permits done for businesses while ensuring that development meets or exceeds environmental safeguards. It also means keeping residents and communities engaged, ensuring that regulatory red tape isn’t getting in the way of economic development. We are committed to going further, faster, so Pennsylvanians can expect permits and protection, and receive both promptly.
For the department’s 2,800 environmental professionals, DEP will Deliver on Every Promise when it comes to permits and protection.
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