GASP was the first to raise an alarm over a permit backlog at the Allegheny County Health Department,

GASP has been tracking a backlog for new and renewed operating permits for major sources of air pollution ACHD developed a formal corrective action plan to eliminate the permitting backlog at the request of The corrective action plan submitted by the ACHD sought the elimination of the backlog within three years that my office’s previous audits were able to help the ACHD and the public identify the permitting backlog The previous audit cited understaffing in the permitting program as a primary reason for the backlog,

Right now, ACHD’s Air Quality Program is facing a permit backlog, which means that many polluting facilities Having a fully staffed program is essential to eliminating that backlog.  

noted that those funding and staffing deficiencies have contributed to ACHD’s lingering Title V permit backlog

GASP’s legal team first sounded the alarm about a backlog of applications for new or renewed Title V Since then, we’ve provided periodic updates about ACHD’s efforts to whittle down that backlog, and even include information regarding the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) permit backlog “Yes, strides have been made by the county and state level to reduce the backlog. Here’s a summary of what the permit backlogs at ACHD and DEP’s regional offices have looked like since

As part of this effort, we have been tracking a backlog for new and renewed operating permits for major To the extent that permitting backlogs exist at DEP or ACHD (which uses a fee schedule similar to DEP Here’s what the permit backlogs at ACHD and DEP’s regional offices looked like in 2018 and 2019:Agency or OfficeNumber of Major Sources 2018/2019Number of Major Sources with Backlogged or Unissued Title We updated our research on the backlogs again this year, to see whether they grew following the IRRC’

In September 2016 we blogged about the backlogs of applications for new and renewed operating permits We decided to check back to see the extent to which ACHD and DEP have resolved the backlogs that existed In 2016, the average number of months each backlogged facility’s permit application was pending at ACHD for over sixty-three months; in 2018, backlogged applications were pending for an average of almost Title V Operating PermitPercentage of Major Sources with Backlogged Title V Operating PermitAverage

GASP has blogged about the backlog of Title V Operating Permits at the Allegheny County Health Department highway funds), its report identified several problems with the program that have contributed to the backlog problems and improve the Title V permitting program: ACHD must develop a corrective action plan for each backlogged The plan must specify the date by which the backlogged permit will be issued and identify intermediate Hopefully, ACHD will implement these measures and eliminate the backlog of Title V Operating Permits.

Our senior attorney John Baillie has been sounding the alarm over the Title V permit backlog at the health

growing source of jobs in Pennsylvania for several years prior, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created a backlog