The saga over enacting the Pennsylvania state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year has concluded, including some of the most significant permitting changes the state has enacted in years. Among the bills signed on November 12, Governor Josh Shapiro approved House Bill 416, now Act 45 of 2025, which amends the state’s fiscal code and revises several processes within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
This act includes several notable permitting reforms designed to provide greater certainty to the regulated community, with additional permits added to the Department of Environmental Protection’s Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) program. It also requires the DEP to make decisions on certain air and water general permits within 30 days.
These changes encompass some of the most commonly issued DEP permits and can be applied across a wide range of industries, including construction, agriculture, energy, and life sciences.
The fiscal code also abrogates, effective immediately, the regulations under 25 Pa. Code Chapter 145 that would have required Pennsylvania to enter the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Almost immediately following the signing of Act 45, the Commonwealth filed an application with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to discontinue its appeal of the Commonwealth Court’s earlier November 1, 2023 decision finding that the RGGI regulations were unconstitutional.
Expansion of the SPEED program
With respect to permitting reform, three new permits are now included in the SPEED program, which was launched in 2024 and authorized the DEP to contract with third-party reviewers to facilitate permit reviews. The newly signed 2025-26 budget legislation adds the following permits to SPEED:
- Storage tanks permitted under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 245
- Short-term construction permits for non-coal surface mines under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 77
- Concentrated animal feeding operations under 26 Pa. Code Ch. 92
The act also obligates the DEP to render decisions within 30 days on applications for a wide swath of general air permits and plan approvals, and for renewals for certain general water permits under the DEP’s Chapter 92. The 30-day shot clock includes an optional five-day extension at the discretion of the applicant. If the DEP does not issue a decision on these permits within the 30-day (or, if extended, 35-day) window, the permit must be issued.
Permit decision timelines and automatic approvals
Specifically, the air quality general permits and general plan approvals (excluding projects in Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, which permit air projects under home rule) are as follows:
- GP-1 Gas and No. 2 Oil Fired Small Combustion Units
- GP-2 Storage Tanks for Volatile Organic Liquids
- GP-3 Portable Nonmetallic Mineral Processing Plants
- GP-4 Burn-Off Ovens
- GP-5/5a Natural Gas Compressor Stations, Processing Facilities, and Well Pads
- GP-6 Petroleum Dry Cleaning Process
- GP-7 Sheet-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Press
- GP-8 Powder Metal Sintering Furnaces
- GP-9 Diesel or No.2 Fuel-Fired IC Engines
- GP-10 Non-Heatset Web Offset Lithographic Printing Press
- GP-11 Nonroad Engines
- GP-12 Fugitive Dust Sources and Diesel Fired IC Engines at Coal and Coal Refuse Preparation Plants
- GP-13 Hot Mix Asphalt Plants
- GP-14 Human or Animal Crematory Incinerators
- GP-15 Feed Mills
- GP-16 Gaseous Fuel-Fired Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines
- GP-19 Dry Abrasive Blasting Operations
- GP-20 Natural Gas-Fired Combined Heat and Power Facilities
- GP-21 Coal-Mine Methane Enclosed Flare
- GP- 22 Landfill Gas-Fired Simple Cycle Turbine(s)
- GP-24 Pharmaceutical & Specialty Chemical Production
The water quality general permits for NPDES include the following:
- PAG-03 Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities
- PAG-04 Discharges from Small Flow Sewage Treatment Facilities
- PAG-05 Discharges from Petroleum Contaminated Groundwater Systems
- PAG-06 Discharges from Combined Sewer Systems
These changes have the potential to provide significantly improved certainty for many projects, but it remains paramount for applicants to have complete and accurate applications for their submissions. We encourage project developers to consult with counsel to ensure approvals of their projects.
