Latest News from State Capitol and 55th District

January 23, 2025

Keeping Up with the Speed of Business
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) website, the department’s mission is to “protect Pennsylvania’s air, land, and water resources while ensuring the health and safety of all residents and visitors to the Commonwealth.”

This is certainly an important mission, and to achieve it, the DEP is tasked with issuing permits for a variety of projects, including mining, oil and gas exploration, waste management and waterways engineering. In fact, most commercial projects require multiple DEP permits.

If you speak with many members of the business and industry sector, the permitting process can be unnecessarily bureaucratic and cause several delays. As of November 2023, the DEP had more than 2,400 permit applications that were delayed. A common accusation against the DEP is that it rarely keeps up with the speed of business.

If Pennsylvania is serious about economic revitalization and expanding career opportunities, we must strike a better balance between permitting new projects and protecting the environment.

This is why I am excited about the DEP’s new online permit tracking tool, which can easily be found on the DEP’s website. You can search by keyword, authorization ID number and filter by county, program area, permit type, application type, status and submission date.

For each application, you can review the details and status of the application and find contact information for the DEP staff member reviewing the application.

By having access to this information, applicants can keep tabs on the DEP’s work. But the information is also made available to the public, which increases transparency about the process.

The new permit tracking tool comes shortly after the DEP’s creation of the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) Program, which is anther effort to keep the permit process moving forward.

Through the program, some permits are able to be examined by DEP-approved qualified contractors to conduct initial reviews of applications. DEP staff will then review recommendations from the contractor and approve or deny the permit or issue a technical deficiency letter. The eligible permit types for this new review process include air quality, earth disturbance, individual water obstruction, and encroachment and dam safety.

Licensed professionals familiar with the permitting process in Pennsylvania are encouraged to become a DEP-approved qualified contractor. To do so, an applicant must meet several criteria, including having five years of experience in dealing with permits, holding the proper professional licenses, and not have conflicts of interest or have performed work for an applicant in the last three years.

A complete list of requirements and more information is also available on the DEP website, by going to the Programs and Services tab, and then the Business tab. If interested, contact Brian Franklin via email bfranklin@pa.gov or by calling 717-787-2471.

Clean air, land and water are high priorities. And so are business development and allowing employers to grow, creating workforce opportunities for future generations. To me, these are not exclusive goals, working against one another. We must always work hard to achieve both objectives.

Here are some additional news topics and reminders I would like to share.

PGC Seeks Help for Winter Turkey Survey - The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is asking for the public’s help finding turkey flocks to trap for ongoing projects. Pennsylvanians are encouraged to report the location of any turkey flocks they see across the state. Information is being collected online through March 15 at https://pgcdatacollection.pa.gov/TurkeyBroodSurvey.

Among other things, visitors to that webpage are asked to provide the date of the sighting, the location and the type of land (public, private or unknown) where birds are seen.

Trapping turkeys during winter is part of the commission's ongoing population monitoring, and it provides information for large-scale turkey studies. More information can be found on the PGC website, pa.gov/agencies/pgc.

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period - The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) is reminding older adults the annual Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs now through March 31. During this time, beneficiaries who currently have a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different plan or to original Medicare. Changes to their enrollment will take effect on the first of the month following the month in which they enroll.

Pennsylvania Medicare Education and Decision Insight (PA MEDI) – the Commonwealth’s Medicare counseling program – is available through the 52 local Area Agencies on Aging to help beneficiaries with Medicare questions. Older adults can receive unbiased, no-cost Medicare assistance from trained PA MEDI counselors who can walk them through their options to assist in making informed health insurance decisions that optimize their cost savings and access to health care and benefits.

Medicare Advantage is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to original Medicare for health and drug coverage. These “bundled” plans include Part A Hospital Insurance, Part B Medical Insurance and usually Part D Drug Coverage.

PA MEDI counselors do not sell Medicare insurance products, nor do they endorse any insurance company, product or agent. Counselors will not recommend policies, companies or insurance agents but will provide free, confidential and unbiased personalized assistance.

Contact the Westmoreland County Area Agency on Aging to schedule a personalized counseling session at 724-830-4444. For more information, call the toll-free PA MEDI Helpline at 1-800-783-7067 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Representative Jill Cooper
55th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jordan Frei
724.875.8450
jfrei@pahousegop.com
RepJillCooper.com / Facebook.com/RepJillCooper