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The Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) was created as part of the Department of Environmental Resources (DER) by Act of December 3, 1970, P.L. 834, 71 P.S. § 510-1 et seq and given sole power to hear and decide appeals of DER actions. Although this statute went into effect in January 1971, the Board was not staffed and ready to function until February 15, 1972. The Environmental Hearing Board was redesignated as an independent agency by the Environmental Hearing Board Act of July 13, 1988, P.L. 530, 35 P.S. § 7511-7516. This Act, effective January 1, 1989, increased the number of board members appointed by the Governor from three to five and required them to be full-time administrative law judges with a minimum of five years of relevant legal experience.
Although the Environmental Hearing Board is not part of the judicial branch of government, it operates like a court. Litigants file pleadings, motions and petitions, engage in discovery proceedings, take part in hearings and submit briefs. The Board has jurisdiction over appeals from orders, permits, licenses, or final decisions of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), both formerly known as the Department of Environmental Resources (1971-1995). It holds hearings and then issues judgments (adjudications) or disposes of appeals by final opinion or order. Litigants dissatisfied with final decisions of the Board have the right to appeal to the Commonwealth Court and from there, if allowed, to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Environmental Hearing Board acts de novo, deciding cases on the basis of the evidence before it, which may differ from evidence considered by DEP or DCNR in their original decision. If the Environmental Hearing Board concludes that DEP or DCNR abused their discretion, it has the authority to substitute its own. For more information about the Environmental Hearing Board, visit its website at http://ehb.courtapps.com/public/index.php.
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