Trevino made the comments during a presentation to a joint meeting of DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council and Environmental Justice Advisory Board.

“We have been able to prove that DEP’s environmental justice policy and our mapping tool have been an amazing tool to not only empower communities, but now to actually facilitate a permitting process as well,” said Trevino.

“And that’s something that is a very understandable concern from the industry and some members of the community, but we have been able to be very disciplined on following the policy without delaying any permits in Pennsylvania.”

Trevino said so far in 2025, DEP received about 1,600 permit applications in environmental justice areas identified by the PennEnviroScreen online tool.

“Out of those, only 11 permits trigger the implementation of the EJ policy. So we continue to prove that the EJ policy is very effective and we’re only working on the most important projects that could be in effect,” said Trevino.

“At the same time, we have the opportunity for the community or for any organization to request that a project that doesn’t trigger the EJ policy to request to opt-in,” said Trevino.  “We have received 25 requests to opt-in projects into the policy, and we have opt-in 13 projects.

“So in total this year, we have 24 cases of enhanced public participation in around 1,600 permits,” said Trevino.

In addition to working on individual permits, Trevino said his Environmental Justice team has engaged with 210 community-based organizations across the state this year.

“We have had around 190 individual meetings with the stakeholders and community leaders. We have hosted more than 50 events,” said Trevino.  “We have attended and participated in around a hundred partner events organized by someone else, and also at the same time delivering more than 36 presentations about the work that we do.” 

“So our role as an Office of Environmental Justice sometimes could sound a little bit patronizing, but it’s about educating the community on the different processes that DEP has and making sure that we are providing the tools to the community so they can participate in our processes.

“The main idea for us is to continue the conversation and making sure that the most vulnerable communities have a seat in DEP’s processes and in permitting, but in many other of our programs.

“We recognize that DEP does many other things beyond permitting, and we’re working very closely with our grant center, with our different inspections and compliance programs on how we can better integrate environmental justice considerations into their day-to-day work.

“DEP continues to be committed to work with environmental justice communities and make sure that they have a seat in the process,” said Trevino.

Click Here for the Office of Environmental Justice 2024 annual report.

DEP has not yet finalized the Interim Final EJ Policy based on the public comments it received.

Visit DEP’s Environmental Justice Policy Revision webpage for more information.

For available handouts and more information on the joint meeting, visit DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council webpage.  Questions should be directed to Ian Irvin, Executive Director, iirvin@pa.gov or (717) 787-8171.

Visit DEP’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board webpage for more information on Board initiatives and activities. Questions should be directed to Mariana Fletcher, Office of Environmental Justice, by email to: marifletch@pa.gov or by calling 717-497-0714.

Resource Link:

— Nov. 12 Joint Meeting Of DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council, Environmental Justice Advisory Board To Hear EJ Concerns With A.I. Data Centers, Update On DEP’s EJ Initiatives, Cumulative Impacts Of Facilities  [PaEN]  

[Posted: November 12, 2025]  PA Environment Digest