The Department of Environmental Protection Friday announced the opening of a supplemental 30-day public comment period on the Permit Decision Guarantee Policy as part of its annual review.  (formal notice)

“In order to gather as much input as possible from stakeholders we have decided to open a second public comment period on this policy,” DEP Acting Secretary Chris Abruzzo said. “The comments we receive after this first year of implementation will help shape the future direction of DEP’s permitting.”

Following the comment period, a comment response document and an annual report will be drafted detailing implementation highlights in the first year, as well as any changes made to the policy and associated permits as a result of internal and external comments.

Details on where comments can be submitted on the final policy will be provided when the technical guidance is published on October 26 in the PA Bulletin.

“One year has passed since Gov. Corbett challenged DEP to improve our efficiency as it relates to permit applications. During that year, DEP staff rose to the occasion; came up with a plan; and have carried out that plan. This has allowed us to clear the backlog of permits without sacrificing the quality of our permit review process,” Abruzzo said.

A copy of the policy is available online.

For more information, visit DEP’s Permit Decision Guarantee webpage.

11/4/2013