Pennsylvania officially signed into law Act 46 of 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Recently, Pennsylvania officially signed into law Act 46 of 2010 and changed the landscape for municipalities for the next few years when it comes to approvals for construction and development projects. Act 46 of 2010 provides an automatic extension for most state and municipal development permits, authorizations, and agreements until July 2, 2013. More importantly, this extension period applies to any permit, authorization, approval or agreement that was granted on or after the date of December 31, 2008 that would have expired prior to July 2, 2013.
The impetus for Act 46 of 2010 was the dire situation that most developers find themselves in due to the ongoing recession. Prior to the implementation of Act 46 of 2010, many development projects were on the verge of having their approvals expire due to their inability to proceed in this stagnant economy.
The impact of Act 46 of 2010 has not yet been fully realized, but local municipalities should be aware that a permit holder is allowed to request a written verification of the extension from the municipality and the new expiration date, but failure to do so will not invalidate the automatic extension. Upon receiving a request for written verification, a municipality shall have thirty (30) days to issue either a written affirmation or denial of the existence of an expiration date for valid approval. Municipalities may not charge a fee of more than $100 for residential verification and a fee of $500 for commercial verification.
There are exceptions to the automatic extension and they are as follows:
- Any approvals based upon compliance with federal laws where the terms of expiration are defined in the federal law
- An administrative consent order or other enforcement action relating to an approval that is subject to the extension period
- An approval, designation or benefit under the Keystone Opportunity Zone, Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone and Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone Act
- A “One-Call” determination, response or other requirement under the Underground Utility Line Protection Law
- The revocation or modification of an approval or extension of an approval, when the approval authorizes the modification or revocation for cause
- An approval issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, except that approvals in accordance with 67 Pa. Code. Ch. 441 (relating to access to and occupancy of highways by driveways and local roads) shall be extended by the Department upon the submission of a complete and accurate application throughout the extension period for one-year intervals, subject to the requirements of 67 Pa. Code. Ch. 441, including modifications based on changed circumstances
- An approval issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in connection with surface waters or wetlands that are classified as high quality waters or exceptional value waters
Even with the automatic extension, municipalities shall retain the authority to: (i) suspend or revoke an approval for noncompliance with a written condition of the approval; (ii) enforce conditions of approvals granted prior to the extension period, and (iii) enforce only those conditions in an approval issued under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code that are required to be performed prior to final plan approval.
Also, under Act 46 of 2010, municipalities are allowed to charge a fee to extend the approval that is no more than 25% of the original application fee, however, such a fee cannot be more than $5,000.