HB 873 — An Act providing for an erosion and sediment control permit, for compliance, for annual report and for duties of the Department of Environmental Protection.

PRINTER'S NO.    909

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 873
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY ZIMMERMAN, HAMM, REICHARD, GREINER, PICKETT,
        KAUFFMAN, KRUPA, SCIALABBA, JAMES, GLEIM, GROVE, MOUL, ROWE
        AND METZGAR, MARCH 11, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE
        PROTECTION, MARCH 11, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Providing for an erosion and sediment control permit, for
 2      compliance, for annual report and for duties of the
 3      Department of Environmental Protection.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6   Section 1.   Short title.
 7      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Erosion and
 8   Sediment Control Permit Act.
 9   Section 2.   Definitions.
10      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12   context clearly indicates otherwise:
13      "Administratively incomplete."    Lacking required documents
14   and related information necessary for department review.
15      "Department."    The Department of Environmental Protection of
16   the Commonwealth.
17      "Licensed engineer."     An engineer licensed under the act of
 1   May 23, 1945 (P.L.913, No.367), known as the Engineer, Land
 2   Surveyor and Geologist Registration Law.
 3   Section 3.     Permit requirements.
 4      Except those projects subject to National Pollutant Discharge
 5   Elimination System requirements, a person proposing an earth
 6   disturbance activity regulated by 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102 (relating
 7   to erosion and sediment control) shall obtain an erosion and
 8   sediment control permit from the department in accordance with
 9   25 Pa. Code Ch. 102 prior to commencing the earth disturbance
10   activity.
11   Section 4.     Issuance of permit.
12      (a)   Issuance.--The department or a conservation district
13   which has a delegation agreement executed with the department to
14   administer and enforce all or a portion of the requirements
15   contained in 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102 (relating to erosion and
16   sediment control) shall issue a permit within 45 days of
17   submission of a permit application unless the permit
18   application:
19            (1)   is administratively incomplete; or
20            (2)   fails to comply with the provisions of 25 Pa. Code
21      Ch. 102.
22      (b)   Approval.--A permit application submitted in accordance
23   with this act by a licensed engineer shall be approved within 20
24   days of receipt. An application shall include the name,
25   signature and license number of the licensed engineer.
26      (c)   Notification of denial.--If a permit application
27   required under this section is denied, the department shall
28   notify the applicant in writing within five days of the denial
29   of the permit application. The notification shall specify the
30   reason for the denial of the permit application.

20250HB0873PN0909                    - 2 -
 1   Section 5.   Compliance with laws of this Commonwealth.
 2      The department, or a conservation district authorized under
 3   section 4, may impose permit terms and conditions necessary to
 4   ensure compliance with laws administered by the department.
 5   Section 6.   Annual report.
 6      No later than January 31 of each year, the department shall
 7   submit an annual report to the General Assembly. At a minimum,
 8   the report shall contain the following:
 9          (1)   Number of permit applications, broken down by
10      industry sector, received under this act in the prior
11      calendar year.
12          (2)   Number of permit applications, broken down by
13      industry sector, approved.
14          (3)   Average time frame for review of applications,
15      organized by regional office of the department.
16          (4)   Number of permit reviewers on staff in the
17      department, including the number and names of licensed
18      engineers, and the average workload of each permit reviewer,
19      organized by regional office of the department.
20          (5)   Reasons cited for administrative or technical
21      deficiencies or permit denials.
22          (6)   Total revenue of permit application fees collected
23      under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102 (relating to erosion and sediment
24      control) and broken down by industry sector.
25   Section 7.   Effective date.
26      This act shall take effect in 60 days.




20250HB0873PN0909                    - 3 -