A pilot program covering 10 Pennsylvania counties – including Bucks, Chester, Lehigh and Montgomery counties – aims to shorten review times for individual NPDES stormwater construction permits by 42 percent.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) launched the program on May 1, 2024. It will be limited to three individual NPDES applications quarterly in each of the 10 counties.
PADEP has promised priority review for applicants that propose green infrastructure or riparian buffers.
Application Process
To participate, an applicant must have a licensed professional develop a Post Construction Stormwater Management (PCSM) plan. That professional must meet with local county conservation district and/or PADEP staff for two pre-application meetings.
Applicants must also agree that the licensed professional will conduct oversight during all critical stages of plan implementation. Projects that propose to disturb more than 50 acres and/or create more than 10 acres of new impervious surface are ineligible.
For brownfield sites, PADEP mandates that all site characterization required under Act 2 be completed prior to the submission of the NPDES application.
Visit PADEP’s website for a summary of the pilot program, including a link to a one-page checklist of 25 documents that must be included with an application.
County Conservation Districts
If a project is accepted into the pilot program, the county conservation district will conduct a concurrent completeness and technical review within 47 business days, and the developer will have 22 days to address any technical deficiencies identified during that review.
If there are no significant deficiencies, the conservation district will prepare and issue a draft NPDES permit following coordination with PADEP on publishing notice in the PA Bulletin.
The pilot program is designed to cut permit review time from the 171 business day timeline in PADEP’s current standard operating procedures down to 98 business days – a 42 percent reduction.
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