State representative Jim Struzzi has introduced a resolution that will direct the House’s Legislative, Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a survey on the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s permitting process.
Struzzi said the survey is due to information that came out during the budget hearings, when the DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley announced that the department issued 800 permits, and she also provided a comprehensive list of those permits. Struzzi said that the information brought up concerns of whether there were duplicate or unnecessary, saying it was an issue of government efficiency. The study will look at the total list of all permits issued by the DEP, a review of all permits to identify overlapping, inconsistent or antiquated permits, a review of which permits are required by federal law, A review of the utilization and implementation of DEP permits over a full calendar year, an analysis and comparison of other state environmental protection permits and an analysis and comparison of total and individual resources and workloads for the permitting programs.
Struzzi said in a statement that the state has a lot of places where it can improve, and “any serious look at ways to improve governmental process moves us a step closer to growing our economy and attracting more business and opportunity to the Commonwealth.
(Struzzi will be on Indiana in the morning to discuss this and other issues at 8:45 this morning)
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