The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has reduced its permit backlog by 75 percent over the last year, including eliminating the backlog for oil and gas permits.
DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley announced Tuesday that the department reviews over 45,000 permit applications for land clearing activities for construction projects, air quality projects, drinking water system upgrades and gas and oil wells every year. The department has been modernizing the process by using new technology and trying to identify and eliminate bottlenecks in the process.
Shirley said in a statement that they have invested in both people and technology to meet the needs of the state’s citizens and in her opinion, it is paying off as the elimination of backlog has been made while being able to keep up with the many new applications that have come in.
