SB 174 — An Act providing for erosion and sediment control requirements.

PRINTER'S NO.   112

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                       SENATE BILL
                       No. 174
                                              Session of
                                                2025

     INTRODUCED BY BARTOLOTTA, HUTCHINSON AND STEFANO,
        JANUARY 23, 2025

     REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, JANUARY 23, 2025


                                   AN ACT
 1   Providing for erosion and sediment control requirements.
 2      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 3   hereby enacts as follows:
 4   Section 1.   Short title.
 5      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Erosion and
 6   Sediment Control Act.
 7   Section 2.   Definitions.
 8      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
 9   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
10   context clearly indicates otherwise:
11      "Administratively complete."   Contains the necessary
12   information, maps, fees and other documents requested as part of
13   the permit application process, notwithstanding whether the
14   information, maps and other documents would be sufficient to
15   justify issuance of the permit.
16      "Conservation district."   A conservation district, as defined
17   in section 3(c) of the act of May 15, 1945 (P.L.547, No.217),
 1   known as the Conservation District Law, which has a delegation
 2   agreement executed with the department to administer and enforce
 3   all or a portion of the requirements under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102
 4   (relating to erosion and sediment control).
 5      "Department."     The Department of Environmental Protection of
 6   the Commonwealth.
 7      "Earth disturbance."     A construction activity or other human
 8   activity which disturbs the surface of the land.
 9      "Expedited application."     An application for a permit which
10   is signed and sealed by a licensed professional.
11      "Licensed professional."     A professional engineer, landscape
12   architect, geologist or land surveyor licensed to practice in
13   this Commonwealth.
14      "Oil and gas activities."     Activities associated with oil and
15   gas exploration, production, gathering, processing, treatment
16   operations or transmission facilities.
17      "Permit."     An erosion and sediment control permit required
18   under this act.
19   Section 3.     Erosion and sediment control permits.
20      (a)   Permit requirement.--A person seeking to commence a
21   project involving oil and gas activities that will cause five
22   acres or more of earth disturbance at one time shall submit an
23   application and obtain a permit from the department or a
24   conservation district before commencing the project.
25      (b)   Review and issuance of permit.--
26            (1)   The department or conservation district shall
27      complete a review of a permit application within five
28      business days of receipt to determine whether the permit
29      application is administratively complete, including entering
30      receipt of the application into the department's publicly

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 1    accessible online permit tracking system. If a permit
 2    application is determined to be incomplete, the applicant
 3    shall be notified in writing within five business days. The
 4    notification shall specify the deficiency of the permit
 5    application.
 6        (2)   If a permit application complies with 25 Pa. Code
 7    Ch. 102 (relating to erosion and sediment control) and is
 8    complete as determined by the department or a conservation
 9    district, the department or conservation district shall issue
10    a permit to the applicant within 43 business days of
11    determining that the application is administratively complete
12    or within 14 business days of determining that the
13    application is administratively complete in the case of an
14    expedited application.
15        (3)   If the department determines that the permit
16    application is technically deficient in that it does not
17    comply with 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102, notification to the
18    applicant shall specify each provision with which the
19    application does not comply. Nothing under this paragraph
20    shall be construed to extend the permit review time periods
21    under paragraph (2).
22        (4)   The department shall create and implement an
23    expedited permit process for an application which is signed
24    and sealed by a licensed professional. An expedited permit
25    may be utilized for all projects except the following:
26              (i)    Projects in a watershed designated as high
27        quality or exceptional value under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 93
28        (relating to water quality standards).
29              (ii)   Projects located entirely in or on a
30        floodplain.

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 1                  (iii)    Projects on lands that are known to be
 2            currently contaminated by the release of regulated
 3            substances as defined in section 103 of the act of May
 4            19, 1995 (P.L.4, No.2), known as the Land Recycling and
 5            Environmental Remediation Standards Act.
 6                  (iv)    Transmission projects.
 7            (5)   If a permit application is denied, the department or
 8      conservation district shall notify the applicant in writing
 9      within five business days of denying the permit application.
10      The notification shall specify the justification for denying
11      the permit application, including citing the relevant law or
12      regulation of this Commonwealth which is not sufficiently
13      addressed in the permit.
14   Section 4.     Compliance with laws of this Commonwealth.
15      The department or a conservation district shall utilize a
16   general permit to implement this act. The general permit shall
17   impose only those terms that are strictly necessary to ensure
18   compliance with the laws of this Commonwealth administered by
19   the department.
20   Section 5.     Fees.
21      A permit application shall be accompanied by a $500
22   administrative filing fee, plus an additional $100 for each
23   disturbed acre. Fees shall be paid to the primary reviewing
24   entity in the event that both the department and a conservation
25   district complete the review. No earlier than three years after
26   the effective date of this section, the Environmental Quality
27   Board may, by regulation, increase the fee to cover the
28   administrative costs of processing the permit applications.
29   Section 6.     Quarterly reports.
30      (a)   Contents.--The department shall submit a quarterly

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 1   report to the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee of
 2   the Senate and the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee
 3   of the House of Representatives detailing the department's
 4   implementation of this act. The report shall contain the
 5   following:
 6          (1)   The number of permit applications received in the
 7      prior 12 months.
 8          (2)   The number of applications approved.
 9          (3)   The average time frame from date of submission for
10      administrative review of permit applications, organized by
11      the regional office of the department.
12          (4)   The average time frame from the date of submission
13      for technical review of applications, organized by the
14      regional office of the department.
15          (5)   The number of permit application reviewers on staff
16      in the department, organized by regional office of the
17      department.
18          (6)   The average workload of each permit application
19      reviewer, which shall be organized by the regional office of
20      the department.
21          (7)   Primary reasons for administrative or technical
22      deficiencies or permit application denials, including the
23      citations to the relevant laws or regulations of this
24      Commonwealth which were not sufficiently addressed in each
25      application, which shall be organized by the regional office
26      of the department.
27          (8)   The number of licensed professionals sanctioned by
28      the department due to the submission of routinely deficient
29      expedited applications and the primary reasons for the
30      sanctions.

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 1            (9)    Details, including dates and locations, of
 2      professional trainings administered or sponsored by the
 3      department related to the permit requirements imposed under
 4      this act.
 5            (10)    Other relevant information as determined by the
 6      department.
 7      (b)   Submission.--The initial quarterly report shall be
 8   submitted within 60 days of the effective date of this
 9   subsection. Subsequent quarterly reports shall be submitted no
10   later than 30 days after the last day of the preceding quarter.
11   Section 7.      Annual evaluation.
12      The department shall annually commission an evaluation of the
13   erosion and sediment control permit review process. The
14   evaluation shall be conducted by a qualified, third-party entity
15   knowledgeable in the department's permitting application
16   process. The evaluation shall, at a minimum, examine and include
17   the following:
18            (1)    Consistency in application review time frames and
19      criteria among the department's regional offices, including
20      among conservation districts.
21            (2)    Adherence by department and conservation district
22      permit review staff to established permit review protocols.
23            (3)    Sufficiency of available professional trainings for
24      department and conservation district permit review staff and
25      the regulated community.
26            (4)    Recommendations on increasing the effectiveness,
27      consistency and predictability of the permit review process.
28   Section 8.      Construction.
29      Nothing in this act shall be construed to exempt a person
30   seeking to commence a project involving oil and gas activities

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1   that will cause less than five acres of earth disturbance and
2   that is not required to obtain a permit from complying with
3   other applicable provisions of 25 Pa. Code Ch. 102 (relating to
4   erosion and sediment control).
5   Section 9.   Effective date.
6      This act shall take effect in 30 days.




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