Title V Operating Permit Backlogs Exist, Underscores Need for Revisions to County Fee Schedule

At GASP we don’t just monitor air quality issues and push back against industrial polluters’ illegal emissions – we also try to hold air quality regulators accountable for doing their jobs and fulfilling the duties that air pollution laws impose on them.

This includes tracking how efficiently Pennsylvania regulators – specifically, the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – process permit applications for sources of air pollution (more on the significance of those permits below).

Since 2018 we’ve reported on the backlogs that exist at ACHD as well as DEP’s six regional offices for processing applications for Title V Operating Permits - permits the Clean Air Act requires the largest sources of air pollution to obtain.

“The backlogs have indeed improved over the years,” said GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie said. “Unfortunately, there are still trouble spots.”

In short: The backlog of permit applications at DEP’s Northwest Regional Office has grown over the last couple of years, while the backlogs of applications at ACHD and DEP’s Northeast Regional Office unfortunately increased this year following several years of improvement.

Here’s what our review turned up this year and what you need to know about those permits.