BREAKING: Allegheny Co. Controller Issues Annual Review of Title V Program

The federally required annual review of Title V Air Quality permitting by the Allegheny County Health Department showed repeat concerns with a backlog in permit issuance and some accounting practices, Allegheny County Controller Corey O'Connor said in a press release Thursday.

By way of background: GASP was the first to raise the alarm over the Title V permit backlog. Here is this year's report.

Here’s what his office sent out in a press release this morning:

During 2024, the year the audit covers, 28 industrial pollution sources in Allegheny County were subject to Title V permitting. U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works facilities were assessed the largest amount of fees in 2024 at over $922,000, with the Clairton Coke Works the largest of these at over $620,000.

"Given continuing concerns with air quality in our region, Allegheny County residents are fortunate to have our own air quality monitoring agency with the ability to set and enforce transparent standards for local industries. The Health Department has made considerable progress in recent years in reducing the backlog of outstanding permits and in processing applications more quickly. However, our review shows that further improvements are needed to achieve full compliance with the Department's obligations," O'Connor said.

As of the close of 2024, permits had not been issued or denied to six major pollution sources in the County within 18 months of application as required by federal statute. This was up from five outstanding applications at the close of 2023, including two permits outstanding in both years. The Health Department reported that three of these permits had been issued since the end of the audit period and that the others were in various stages of revision or review.

The audit also found that over $1 million was due to the Title V fund from other funds within the Health Department's Air Quality program due to cross-charges, a significant increase from $584,000 at the close of 2023. Federal law requires funds derived from Title V permitting to be used exclusively for expenditures within the program. Current Department accounting practices could allow these funds to be used for other purposes, auditors found. The same finding has been made in successive audits and not corrected, the audit report states.

"Responsibly maintaining and monitoring funding streams for air quality control across multiple functions of the Air Quality program is crucial to mitigating the impact of industrial pollution on all of our residents, especially highly vulnerable communities near major pollution sources. Along with this examination of the Title V fund, my office previously issued an audit calling for more productive use of the Clean Air Fund designated for community projects related to air quality," O'Connor said. "I am also in support of modernizing the fee structure for air quality permitting, which will allow the Health Department to maintain and improve its work in this area without harmful funding constraints."

View the complete Independent Auditor's Report.

View the complete Independent Auditor's Report on Internal Control and Compliance.

Editor’s Note: GASP staff is reviewing the audit - stay tuned.