PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets June 13 To Hear Acting DEP Secretary Negrin Outline His Vision For Changing DEP; Enforcement, Customer Service Strategies; Permit Review Changes; Environmental Justice Plans; More

Thursday, June 1, 2023

DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets June 13 To Hear Acting DEP Secretary Negrin Outline His Vision For Changing DEP; Enforcement, Customer Service Strategies; Permit Review Changes; Environmental Justice Plans; More

DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council is scheduled to meet June 13 to hear remarks by DEP Acting Secretary Richard Negrin on his vision for DEP and his initiatives for changing the agency.

The agenda includes the Secretary’s overview of-

-- Secretary’s Vision for DEP

-- Overview of Plan To Speed Permit Reviews, Make Them More Effective

-- DEP’s New Enforcement Strategy

-- DEP’s New Customer Service Strategy

-- DEP’s Environmental Justice Plan

-- DEP’s Organizational Chart

-- DEP’s Conventional Oil/Gas Well Capping Program Overview

A question/answer session will follow the Secretary’s remarks.

Also on the agenda are related presentations on--

-- Environmental Justice by Fernando Trevino, Justin Dula, DEP Office of Environmental Justice

-- Climate Leadership by Dave Althoff, Director Energy Programs Office

-- Center of Environmental Excellence by Saleem Chapman, Executive Director

-- Cultural Competence by Anwar Curtis, Deborah Laughman, Larry Holley

New Enforcement Strategy

Acting Secretary Negrin will discuss a new enforcement strategy with these elements--

-- Proactive Enforcement/Compliance Team

-- New Interface for Power BI Tool [Air Quality]

-- Enhanced Collaboration & Information Sharing with Federal Partners

-- Enhanced Civil Enforcement (Community/Restorative Penalties)

-- Prioritize Increased Inspections & Monitoring in Environmental Justice Communities

-- Comprehensive & Preventative Compliance Training for Stakeholders

-- Compliance Assistance Service Model to Support Entities in Violation & Reduce Time to Resolve violations and deficiencies

-- New Criminal Referral Policy (Improved Working with Attorney General)

New Customer Service Strategy

The Acting Secretary’s new customer service strategy includes--

-- Establish Chief Customer Service Officer Position

-- Create a Uniform Standard of Excellence & Expectation for All Stakeholder Interactions

-- Identify Key KPI’s [Key Performance Indicators] Related to Customer/User Experience & Track with Center of Excellence

-- Provide Professional Customer Service Training for ALL Employees Who Interact with Stakeholders (Coaching On-Going)

-- Establish Customer Service Survey Tool with 3rd Party Independent Review that Provides Customer Satisfaction Score.

-- Enforce New Customer Service Cultural Values Around Customer Experience with Existing Human Resources & Reviews

-- Launch Strategic Communication & Marketing Campaign to Raise Awareness of Civil Service and User Experience Related Offerings for Stakeholders

New Environmental Justice Strategy

The new environmental justice strategy includes these changes--

-- Define EJ broader to support all vulnerable populations.

-- Elevating it to a Special Deputy Secretary for environmental justice.

-- Adding a Deputy Director to create bandwidth across the state.

-- Adding an environmental justice regional coordinator per each of DEP’s six regions.

-- Proactive community outreach and engagement program.

-- Updated Environmental Justice Policy with a community outreach-first approach, enhanced Public Participation Process, and includes compliance with Title VI, in permitting, enforcement, grants, remediation, and climate change.

-- Design PennEnviroScreen, a new environmental justice mapping and screening tool that contains environmental, health, socioeconomic, and demographic indicators and is the main tool for mapping.

DEP’s written report to Council on agency activities is also available

Public Comment Period

Individuals interested in providing public comments during the meeting must sign up prior to the start of the meeting by contacting Max Schultz at maxschultz@pa.gov.

Joining The Meeting

The Council meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building starting at 12:30 p.m. Click Here to join the meeting online via Microsoft Teams via Teams app: Meeting ID: 243 179 778 849 Passcode: Wef3MH. Call-in #: +1 267-332-8737 Conference ID#: 545 603 200#

Visit DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council webpage for available handouts and more information. Questions should be directed to Max Schultz at maxschultz@pa.gov. [PaEN]

Resource Links:

-- Gov. Shapiro’s Budget Proposes Major Initiative To Speed Up DEP Permit Reviews/ Inspections; Double Oil & Gas Fund Investment In State Parks/Forests Infrastructure [PaEN]

-- DEP Budget Testimony: Increasing Permitting Efficiency, Cleaning Up Legacy Pollution, Investing In Communities, Holding Companies Accountable [PaEN]

-- DEP Offers 10 Point Plan To Improve Permit Reviews; Climate/Energy Work Group Co-Chairs Announced; Work Group Formed To Prevent New Oil & Gas Well Abandonments [PaEN]

-- DEP Acting Secretary Wants To Encourage A Culture Of Being User-Friendly At DEP And Used The Train Derailment Response As An Example [PaEN]

-- DEP Acting Secretary Negrin: All Climate Change Is Local - We Are Guardians Of Our Neighborhoods, We Are To Act In Service To Our Neighbors [PaEN]

-- House Budget Hearing: Acting DEP Secretary Outlines His Views On Environmental Justice, Announces Fernando Treviño As Special Deputy For Environmental Justice [PaEN]

NewsClips This Week:

-- PA Capital-Star: Lawmakers Are Clawing Back State’s Power To Prevent The Abandonment Of Conventional Oil/Gas Wells

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Advocates Say More Scrutiny Needed Over Conventional Oil/Gas Well Plugging

-- PA Capital-Star: Shell Petrochemical Plant To Pay $10 Million In Fines For Exceeding Air Pollution Limits - Will It Matter?

-- Eyes On Shell Petrochemical Plant Accountability Campaign To Hold In-Person Rally June 8 In Beaver. 9:00 a.m.