HB 1625 — An Act establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority within the Department of Community and Economic Development; providing for the duties of authority and its governing board; providing for duties of other entities; establishing the Artificial Intelligence Permitting System Pilot Program within the Department of Environmental Protection; establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Development Fund; and providing for sovereign immunity.

PRINTER'S NO.   1966

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                        HOUSE BILL
                        No. 1625
                                               Session of
                                                 2025

     INTRODUCED BY ORTITAY, COOK AND OLSOMMER, JUNE 18, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY,
        JUNE 20, 2025


                                    AN ACT
 1   Establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority
 2      within the Department of Community and Economic Development;
 3      providing for the duties of authority and its governing
 4      board; providing for duties of other entities; establishing
 5      the Artificial Intelligence Permitting System Pilot Program
 6      within the Department of Environmental Protection;
 7      establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Development
 8      Fund; and providing for sovereign immunity.
 9      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10   hereby enacts as follows:
11   Section 1.   Short title.
12      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Keystone
13   Artificial Intelligence Authority Act.
14   Section 2.   Definitions.
15      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
16   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
17   context clearly indicates otherwise:
18      "Applicant."    An individual, partnership, association,
19   corporation or other legal entity that submits a request to a
20   Commonwealth agency for a permit related to a project within a
21   target industry.
 1      "Authority."    The Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority
 2   established under section 3.
 3      "Board."    The governing board of the authority established
 4   under section 4.
 5      "Commonwealth agency."    A department, board, commission or
 6   other administrative unit of the Commonwealth that is authorized
 7   by law to issue permits related to development activities.
 8      "Completed application."    An application submitted to a
 9   Commonwealth agency that includes all information, documentation
10   and forms required by applicable law, regulation or published
11   guidance and that has been formally acknowledged as complete by
12   the Commonwealth agency.
13      "Department."    The Department of Community and Economic
14   Development of the Commonwealth.
15      "Permit."    A license, certification, approval, registration
16   or other authorization required by a Commonwealth agency for the
17   initiation, construction or operation of a facility or project
18   within a target industry.
19      "Permit navigator program."     A centralized program
20   administered by the authority to coordinate and expedite all
21   State-level permitting processes.
22      "Permit navigator system."    A digital platform developed and
23   maintained by the authority to facilitate permit coordination,
24   applicant-agency communications, real-time status tracking and
25   publication of performance metrics.
26      "Target industry."    Artificial intelligence facilities, data
27   centers, semiconductor manufacturing, cloud infrastructure,
28   cooling and grid technologies and other emerging technologies as
29   designated by the authority.
30   Section 3.    Establishment of authority.

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 1      The Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority is established
 2   within the department.
 3   Section 4.     Governing board.
 4      (a)   Composition.--
 5            (1)   The duties of the authority shall be exercised by a
 6      governing board consisting of the following members:
 7                  (i)    A member appointed by the Governor.
 8                  (ii)    A member appointed by the President pro tempore
 9            of the Senate.
10                  (iii)    A member appointed by the Minority Leader of
11            the Senate.
12                  (iv)    A member appointed by the Speaker of the House
13            of Representatives.
14                  (v)    A member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
15            House of Representatives.
16            (2)   Each member shall possess relevant experience in
17      artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, cloud
18      computing or machine learning.
19            (3)   Each member shall be a resident of this
20      Commonwealth.
21      (b)   Terms and chairperson.--
22            (1)   The appointing authorities shall make initial
23      appointments within 30 days of the effective date of this
24      paragraph. A member's term shall begin on the date of
25      appointment and shall run concurrently with the term of the
26      appointing authority.
27            (2)   The board shall elect a chairperson from among its
28      members at the organizational meeting and upon any vacancy in
29      that office. The chairperson shall serve a term of two years
30      or for the remainder of the chairperson's board term,

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 1      whichever is first, and may be reelected for subsequent two-
 2      year terms.
 3            (3)   A member shall serve at the pleasure of the
 4      appointing authority. Vacancies shall be filled by the
 5      appointing authority within 30 days.
 6      (c)   Organization.--The appointees of the President pro
 7   tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
 8   Representatives shall jointly set the date, time and location of
 9   the initial meeting of the board within five days of the
10   appointment of all initial members. The meeting shall be held
11   within 60 days of the effective date of this subsection. The
12   board may elect additional officers as necessary. A member may
13   hold more than one office within the board.
14      (d)   Meetings.--
15            (1)   The board shall meet as frequently as necessary but
16      not less than once per fiscal quarter. A meeting shall be
17      called by the chairperson upon written request of at least
18      two members.
19            (2)   A majority of members shall constitute a quorum.
20      Actions shall be taken by majority vote unless otherwise
21      provided by the board. Meetings shall be conducted in
22      accordance with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings).
23      (e)   Administrative support.--
24            (1)   The board shall appoint an executive director.
25            (2)   The department, in consultation with the executive
26      director, shall provide administrative services and staff as
27      necessary. Legal counsel shall be designated by the Office of
28      General Counsel.
29      (f)   Restrictions.--No board member or executive director may
30   seek or hold another public office in this Commonwealth or serve

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 1   as a party officer while serving with the authority.
 2      (g)    Applicable laws.--The following acts shall apply to the
 3   authority:
 4             (1)   The act of July 19, 1957 (P.L.1017, No.451), known
 5      as the State Adverse Interest Act.
 6             (2)   The act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as
 7      the Right-to-Know Law.
 8             (3)   65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 11 (relating to ethics standards and
 9      financial disclosure).
10   Section 5.      Duties of authority.
11      (a)    General duties.--The authority shall serve as the lead
12   coordinating entity of the Commonwealth to promote the
13   development of target industries through streamlined permitting,
14   strategic investment and administrative efficiency.
15      (b)    Specific duties.--The authority shall have the following
16   duties:
17             (1)   Administer this act.
18             (2)   Promote and encourage the development of target
19      industries in this Commonwealth.
20             (3)   Develop and administer a permit navigator program to
21      assist target industry applicants in coordinating and
22      expediting all State-level permitting processes. The permit
23      navigator program shall:
24                   (i)    designate an employee of the authority to serve
25             as a point of contact to work directly with all
26             applicants and provide assistance with the coordination
27             of necessary permitting and regulatory reviews required
28             to move the target industry project forward in a timely
29             fashion;
30                   (ii)   offer optional preapplication conferences for

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 1        target industry projects to identify permitting
 2        requirements, likely constraints and Commonwealth agency
 3        points of contact before formal application submission;
 4        and
 5              (iii)    operate and make available on the authority's
 6        publicly accessible Internet website a permit navigator
 7        system to:
 8                     (A)   provide centralized permit application
 9              tracking and communication;
10                     (B)   allow applicants to monitor the status of
11              their completed applications;
12                     (C)   publish performance indicators, including
13              average permit review timelines; and
14                     (D)   publish the maximum allowable permit review
15              timelines developed under paragraph (4).
16        (4)   Coordinate with all relevant Commonwealth agencies
17    to develop and publish maximum allowable timelines for permit
18    reviews for target industries by submitting a notice to the
19    Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
20    available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The timelines
21    shall not exceed 90 days for initial reviews and 30 days for
22    resubmissions. The following shall apply:
23              (i)    If a Commonwealth agency fails to act on a
24        completed application within the established time frame,
25        and no justified extension has been granted, the permit
26        shall be deemed approved.
27              (ii)    If a Commonwealth agency misses a published
28        deadline without justification, the applicant shall be
29        entitled to a full refund of any permit processing fee or
30        a credit toward future permit applications with the same

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 1          agency.
 2                 (iii)   If a Commonwealth agency fails to meet the
 3          published deadline for two or more applications in a
 4          calendar year, the Commonwealth agency shall submit a
 5          written corrective action plan to the authority, the
 6          Governor and the General Assembly.
 7          (5)     Coordinate with the Governor's Office of
 8      Transformation and Opportunity to ensure alignment of
 9      economic development initiatives, interagency permit
10      facilitation and strategic investment planning.
11          (6)     Conduct examinations and investigations and hear
12      testimony and receive evidence at public or private hearings
13      on issues relating to the development of target industries in
14      this Commonwealth.
15          (7)     Within six months of the date of the final
16      appointment to the board, compile and submit to the Governor
17      and the General Assembly a report identifying barriers to the
18      development of target industries and recommending legislative
19      and regulatory changes.
20          (8)     Adopt bylaws governing the internal operations of
21      the authority.
22          (9)     Enter into contracts and execute all instruments
23      necessary or convenient for conducting the authority's
24      business.
25          (10)     Perform any other act necessary to carry out the
26      purposes of this act.
27   Section 6.    Duties of other entities.
28      All development agencies, local authorities, municipalities
29   and Commonwealth agencies shall cooperate with the authority and
30   provide requested documentation.

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 1   Section 7.     Artificial Intelligence Permitting System Pilot
 2                  Program.
 3      (a)   Establishment.--The Artificial Intelligence Permitting
 4   System Pilot Program is established within the Department of
 5   Environmental Protection for the purposes of this section.
 6      (b)   Duties.--Within six months of the effective date of this
 7   subsection, the Department of Environmental Protection shall
 8   partner with an institution of higher education located in this
 9   Commonwealth that offers specialized academic programming and
10   research in artificial intelligence to develop and implement an
11   artificial intelligence permitting system to assist employees of
12   the Department of Environmental Protection in the review and
13   processing of all permit applications administered by the
14   Department of Environmental Protection. The artificial
15   intelligence permitting system shall meet all of the following
16   requirements:
17            (1)   Prescreen and review a permit application for
18      completeness, potential errors and compliance with applicable
19      laws and regulations.
20            (2)   Assist in prioritizing the review of a permit
21      application.
22            (3)   Provide employees of the Department of Environmental
23      Protection with an internal dashboard that contains the
24      following information for a permit application:
25                  (i)    Current status of the permit application.
26                  (ii)    The number of days since the permit application
27            was submitted to the Department of Environmental
28            Protection.
29                  (iii)    The estimated number of days until the permit
30            application is completed.

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 1                 (iv)    All relevant supporting documents included with
 2            the permit application.
 3                 (v)    A record of all employee actions and
 4            communications associated with the permit application.
 5      (c)   Report.--Within 18 months of the effective date of this
 6   subsection, the Department of Environmental Protection shall
 7   submit a report to the General Assembly and the authority on
 8   detailing the effectiveness, employee satisfaction and
 9   efficiency of the artificial intelligence permitting system.
10   Section 8.    Keystone Artificial Intelligence Development Fund.
11      (a)   Establishment.--The Keystone Artificial Intelligence
12   Development Fund is established as a restricted fund in the
13   State Treasury.
14      (b)   Appropriation.--Money and accrued interest in the fund
15   are appropriated to the authority on a continuing basis to
16   implement this act.
17   Section 9.    Fiscal year.
18      The fiscal year of the authority shall be the same as that of
19   the Commonwealth.
20   Section 10.    Sovereign immunity.
21      Board members shall not be personally liable for the
22   obligations of the authority. The authority and its officials
23   and employees shall have sovereign and official immunity under 1
24   Pa.C.S. § 2310 (relating to sovereign immunity reaffirmed;
25   specific waiver) and 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 85 (relating to matters
26   affecting government units).
27   Section 11.    Effective date.
28      This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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