Labor and business agree: The state of Pennsylvania needs to fine-tune its permitting process.

Earlier this year, the heads of the state’s top business organization and the leader of Pennsylvania’s building trades union came out in support of efforts underway to reform that process.

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry developed a permitting reform framework designed to address several of the business community’s top concerns, and in May, the group also garnered support from more than 60 chambers of commerce and statewide business groups that urged state lawmakers to enact reforms soon.

The groups are concerned that certain aspects of the permitting process can create unnecessary delays for developers and business owners, in some cases to the point where they give up and take their projects elsewhere.

Proponents of permitting reform point to a specific project that surfaced last year when U.S. Steel chose Arkansas — rather than Pennsylvania — for a $3 billion expansion that officials say would support some 900 well-paying jobs.

Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas’ governor at the time, reportedly said that his state could permit that project, build the steel mill and have it open for business “before you could ever get a permit to even start construction in Pennsylvania.”

Even the state’s top elected official acknowledged that the process was far too time-consuming.

“We all know that our licensing and permitting process takes too damn long,” Gov. Josh Shapiro remarked during his initial budget address in March.

While that might be the case in certain parts of the state, it doesn’t seem to be a major hurdle for those planning to develop projects in Butler County.

At least that’s the way Mark Gordon, the county’s chief of economic development and planning, views it.

Gordon recently addressed the issue along with Ian Harrell, director of the county Conservation District; Joe Saeler, executive director of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County; and Joel MacKay, a county planner.

“Is everything perfect here?” Gordon asked. “No. But everyone here and the respective organizations they represent work tirelessly at trying to make things happen and not make excuses to put (projects) on the shelf and delay something.

“They recognize a private investor is investing money — their own or their business’ — and those timing issues are real. I think the organizations here work together collaboratively very well and they work in a manner to help eliminate problems or see problems before they have to encounter them in the process and find preventive means through re-engineering, through better consideration of land use and the like. I think there are things we all can do a little better or a little differently, but I’m not embarrassed at all by what we do today.”

Gordon said whenever a prospective business owner or developer reaches out to him or his cohorts, whether it’s the CDC, the local Chamber of Commerce, the county Conservation District, the county or a local municipality, the goal is to head off potential problems before they occur.

“We try to collaborate across all entities — we’re trying to help them through the process and ultimately be successful,” he said. “It’s not atypical to see Ian or Joe Saeler or myself at a municipal planning or zoning meeting talking about a potential change of use or looking at issues in a municipality and trying to work with them. That’s just what we do day in and day out — and not with a lot of fanfare.”

While the state often comes under fire for slowing down the permitting process, Gordon and the others praised the work done by the county Conservation District and the Meadville office of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“I’ve been with the county 17 years, and I’ve done many projects over that time working with the Conservation District,” Saeler said. “Seventeen years ago, they did a great job, and they do a better job today.

“We all move as quickly as we can. It’s not easy but to say we need complete (permitting) reform, I don’t know. There are always areas we could do better in. Every job I do I learn something to make the next job better.”

Harrell said delays sometimes are caused by deficiencies in project applications. “If you submit items to us that are not complete, we have to inform you that we can’t continue with the review until we get those items,” he said. “We can’t review something we don’t have yet.”

Harrell said he encourages project proponents to meet with his office prior to submitting an official application just to make sure it’s complete. Still, he said as many as half the project applications that reach his office are deficient in some way.

“I don’t know why it happens that way, but it does,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. Forms have changed several times, but from my perspective, a lot is on the applicant side that causes slowdowns. It’s not like the DEP and the conservation districts are causing any delays if there’s a delay.”

Gordon said it’s hard to generalize when talking about development projects because they’re all so different.

“In Butler County, we have a wide range of businesses — everything from professional service offices to extensive projects like chemical plants,” he said. “When you think about a chemical plant, there are a lot of health, safety and welfare type issues that require an awful lot of checks and balances before someone gets the go-ahead to turn on the switch.”

Gordon said not only do the uses differ, but so do the sites, the plans and buildings involved — and all those things can affect the permitting process and the length of time needed to complete that process. Starting from scratch, for example, can result in a lengthier permitting process than moving into an existing building.

Saeler said even topography can play a role in the permitting process. In some areas where the terrain is flat, project designs might not have to account for erosion, sedimentation control or other soil-related issues. But Western Pennsylvania’s hilly terrain makes for a different landscape, so to speak.

Another factor in this area is that much of the preferred land already has been developed.

“You’re shoehorning buildings and infrastructure into locations where you just don’t have wide-open space footprints,” Gordon said.

Cranberry Township is one part of the county that has seen significant growth in recent years but even there Ron Henshaw, the township’s planning director, said he hasn’t heard too many complaints from developers over the years.

“Every once in a while, you’ll hear about how long it takes to get permits and approvals,” he said. “But generally speaking, applicants are never going to get their permits quickly enough. What I would say is that we do get good feedback on our system and how efficient we are. The fact that we get few complaints is emblematic of the system we have and how easy we make it for customers to apply for and receive permits from us.”

That’s hardly the case everywhere, though, according to state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st. Hutchinson said that while some high-profile examples of permit delays might not be evident in Butler County, he still believes problems with the permitting process exist within his district, which covers all or parts of six counties, including Butler.

One problem, Hutchinson said, is that while some developers can afford to have economic development professionals shepherding their projects through the process, “mom and pop don’t want to have to go to professional economic developers to get things done.”

“They just want a permit,” he said. “And they’re the ones who are frustrated. I was with a Realtor last week trying to do a development, and she said the DEP is a nightmare. These are small-time developers — maybe they want to build five homes. They’re not getting the headlines, but she’s anxious about being able to build these homes and get them occupied.”

Shapiro already has taken some action with regard to streamlining the permitting process as he announced in May that all state agencies under his jurisdiction have completed a comprehensive review of their licensing, certification and permitting processes. The review took in more than 2,400 processes, including 800 permits issued by state agencies under Shapiro’s jurisdiction.

The next step calls for the governor’s office to review, analyze and establish efficient application processing times for all those agencies.

Shapiro also signed an executive order establishing the state Office of Transformation and Opportunity, set up within the governor’s office and the state’s Economic Development Strategy Group. The office will be tasked with helping to develop and lead an overall growth strategy and implement economic development projects — coordinating with state agencies and expediting permit reviews, among other things.

Hutchinson acknowledged that the new office is a good idea and something he agreed with. But Hutchinson and others are supporting legislation — specifically Senate Bill 350 — that would codify that move and others so that they remain in place regardless of who occupies the governor’s office.

According to Pennsylvania Senate Republicans, SB 350 would “streamline and expedite the state’s historically sluggish permitting process” by incorporating several changes. First, the legislation would require state agencies to put into place a website that would allow applicants to check the status of their applications at any time. In addition, the legislation would require that a permit automatically be granted if the state agency reviewing the application misses its statutory review deadline.

The new law also would allow third-party review of permit applications to speed up the process.

Hutchinson said he supports the bill, as does the state Chamber of Business and Industry.

“We have a generational opportunity within our grasp to advance a significant permitting reform bill that would lead to more jobs, greater transparency and ultimately, a stronger economy,” said Luke Bernstein, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer. “Senate Bill 350 takes a giant step forward propelling our state to become more competitive. By building on the governor’s efforts to improve permitting, this measure further helps to modernize, streamline and add much needed transparency to the permitting process.”

This story was originally published in Butler County Business Matters.