Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) continue to advance Governor Josh Shapiro’s vision of an accountable, responsive, and efficient state government with a user friendly new tool to track the progress of permit applications submitted to DEP. The convenient new permit tracker will let applicants track the progress of their application from submission through decision on the DEP website: Track a permit.
“Our permit tracker continues DEP’s commitment to transparency and improving the user experience for applicants working with us to build a better Pennsylvania,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “We’ve heard the requests from the business community, and we have listened. This tool is also useful for residents to better understand the progress of permits for projects in their communities – everything from clearing land to build new businesses to regulating safe drinking water and ensuring safe air quality.”
The Permit Status Tracker allows applicants to easily follow the progress of a particular permit. The Permit Tracker tool can:
- Search by authorization ID or keyword.
- Filter by county, program area, permit type, application type, status, and submission date.
- View application status, details, and estimated processing time.
- Find contact information for your reviewer.
The Permit Status Tracker tool was co-developed by DEP and CODE PA to be easy to use and provide accurate, up-to-date information on permit applications. CODE PA is the Commonwealth's in-house team of digital experience experts working to make Pennsylvanians' online interactions with state government simple, seamless, and secure. The CODE PA team brings private sector talent and best practices to build digital products and services in-house and reduce reliance on expensive contracts with external consultants and vendors.
“People have grown accustomed to being able to track the status of their online purchases in real time and we are working to build this expectation into the digital services we create,” said Bry Pardoe, Executive Director of CODE PA. “The Permit Status Tracker dovetails with our ongoing work with DEP and other state agencies to modernize the experience of applying for permits, licenses, and certifications.”
DEP reviews more than 45,000 permit applications every year. These include permits for land clearing activities for construction projects, air quality permits for factories and power plants, permits to upgrade drinking waters systems to remove chemicals like PFAS, and permits for oil and gas wells.
DEP has reduced its permit backlog by 75 percent since November 1, 2023 – and has completely eliminated the backlog for oil and gas permits.
DEP is modernizing its permitting process by investing in technology and reviewing processes to identify and eliminate bottlenecks. DEP began the backlog reduction initiative on November 1, 2023, and had more than 2,400 permit applications that required action received prior to that date. As of November 15, 2024, DEP eliminated 1,750 applications from this backlog – a 73% reduction, while keeping up with new application reviews. In the Office of Oil and Gas Management, staff have reviewed and made decisions on all 115 permit applications received before November 1, 2023.
Throughout the Shapiro Administration, DEP has been hiring staff to improve operational efficiency. Since 2023, DEP has added 225 employees to carry out critical functions like public health and safety inspections and permit application reviews.
The DEP tracker builds on the Shapiro Administration’s proven track record of improving the Commonwealth’s permitting processes, reducing wait times for businesses, workers, students, and the general public — making Pennsylvania more competitive by ensuring the Commonwealth is moving at the speed of business. In November 2024, Governor Shapiro signed Executive Order 2024-04, creating the Pennsylvania (PA) Permit Fast Track Program to streamline the Commonwealth’s permitting process for key economic development and infrastructure projects, increase transparency, and accelerate timelines to ensure state government delivers results quickly and efficiently.
Prospective applicants for DEP permits are encouraged to contact DEP and have a Pre-Application meeting, and use the Permit Application Consulting Tool to learn what permits may be required for a particular project. Visit the DEP website for more information about the permit process, including the steps in the review process.
Learn more about the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience at code.pa.gov.
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