Interim DEP Secretary Shirley Tells Citizens Advisory Council Priorities Of Permitting Reform, Environmental Justice, Customer Service, Moving Forward

On January 9, Interim Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley told DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council the initiatives started by former DEP Secretary Richard Negrin are moving forward.

“We are continuing, I would say, business as usual with all of the previous plans related to permitting reform, compliance and enforcement, environmental justice, customer service that were put into place under Secretary Negrin,” said Shirley.  “Business as usual, but with more of a focus on what are the things that are most achievable.”

[Note: Secretary Negrin outlined these major initiatives at a Citizens Advisory Council meeting last June.  Read more here.]

“My vision for the department is really to move us into a more modern era,” said Shirley. 

“Many of you are aware that our eFACTS [permit, inspection information] system was developed and implemented in [1997], back when Windows 95 was cutting edge. We've had some band-aid fixes. 

“We have other programs that layer over top of it, but really we think it's time that we look at new and better ways that we could... I'm trying to think, not just permitting, but also looking at compliance and workflow management, but how we can have a better system to manage the department, all of our various duties and responsibilities.

“So I've asked folks for what I've called TurboTax for DEP, to make it really easy for folks to apply for a permit.

“ If you've ever used TurboTax to do your taxes, it's a series of yes or no questions, and then it basically tells you what it is that you need to file and how you need to file. 

“As we have environmental regulations and case law and federal regulations, our permitting processes have gotten much more difficult, more confusing. 

“So finding ways that we can simplify that process for our external folks, provide them with better customer service is really a focus of the administration and a focus of mine,’ said Shirley.

Appointing Secretary

Shirley said she does not know what the timetable is to appoint a new DEP Secretary saying, “we’ll make sure that we keep you [the Council] up-to-date on whatever information that we have.”

DEP also provided an updated monthly written report of activities to Council.

The next meeting of the Council will be on February 13.

For more information and available handouts, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting webpage. Questions should be directed to Ian Irvin, Executive Director, iirvin@pa.gov.  

[Note: DEP is experiencing website issues so some pages may not load.]

Resource Link:

-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council To Discuss The PFOA/PFOS ‘Forever Chemical’ Drinking Water Standard, Hydrogen Hubs In PA At Jan. 9 Meeting  [PaEN]

[Posted: January 9, 2024]  PA Environment Digest