PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Major economic and infrastructure projects across Pennsylvania should get a boost with a new executive order signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro Tuesday morning.
Shapiro was at the South Philadelphia site of the 2019 Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery explosion, where he signed his order to help cut through red tape for business permitting in the state. The Bellwether District, the massive life sciences and e-commerce development slated for the former refinery site, is just the kind of project Shapiro had in mind when signing his new fast track permit initiative.
“These big, complex projects, like Bellwether, are really important for us to streamline and organize around,” said the governor.
When he was running for governor in 2022, Shapiro said, he heard a lot from the state’s business community about the slog of getting permits. “I recognize that time is money,” he said. “It’s true for business, and it’s true for our workers.”
And both businesses and workers were suffering while permit backlogs persisted.
“Using fast track, we’re gonna speed up permitting for big, complex, major economic development and infrastructure projects all across Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.
The permit fast track program is the third pillar of Shapiro’s efforts to make permitting easier for Pennsylvania businesses big and small. The first is the newly-created Office of Transformation and Opportunity, and the second is a payback program to compensate businesses when permitting takes too long.
“Speed and service is what the private sector wants,” said Chief Transformation Officer Ben Kirshner. “The speed at which you get that permit or that license, can mean the difference between opening up your new business on time, and on budget, or falling behind from the start.”
The new initiative also creates a dashboard for businesses and project managers to track their necessary permits at both the state and municipal levels.
Beyond the Bellwether site, Shapiro pointed to other projects that will be aided by fast-track permitting, including a new tech center in Northeast Pennsylvania and a methane digester in Western Pennsylvania to create power for rural communities.
“This is great stuff, and it’s really significant progress,” he said, “and it puts money in people’s pockets.”