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PRINTER'S NO. 1966
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1625
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY ORTITAY, COOK AND OLSOMMER, JUNE 18, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY,
JUNE 20, 2025
AN ACT
Establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority
within the Department of Community and Economic Development;
providing for the duties of authority and its governing
board; providing for duties of other entities; establishing
the Artificial Intelligence Permitting System Pilot Program
within the Department of Environmental Protection;
establishing the Keystone Artificial Intelligence Development
Fund; and providing for sovereign immunity.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Keystone
Artificial Intelligence Authority Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Applicant." An individual, partnership, association,
corporation or other legal entity that submits a request to a
Commonwealth agency for a permit related to a project within a
target industry.
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"Authority." The Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority
established under section 3.
"Board." The governing board of the authority established
under section 4.
"Commonwealth agency." A department, board, commission or
other administrative unit of the Commonwealth that is authorized
by law to issue permits related to development activities.
"Completed application." An application submitted to a
Commonwealth agency that includes all information, documentation
and forms required by applicable law, regulation or published
guidance and that has been formally acknowledged as complete by
the Commonwealth agency.
"Department." The Department of Community and Economic
Development of the Commonwealth.
"Permit." A license, certification, approval, registration
or other authorization required by a Commonwealth agency for the
initiation, construction or operation of a facility or project
within a target industry.
"Permit navigator program." A centralized program
administered by the authority to coordinate and expedite all
State-level permitting processes.
"Permit navigator system." A digital platform developed and
maintained by the authority to facilitate permit coordination,
applicant-agency communications, real-time status tracking and
publication of performance metrics.
"Target industry." Artificial intelligence facilities, data
centers, semiconductor manufacturing, cloud infrastructure,
cooling and grid technologies and other emerging technologies as
designated by the authority.
Section 3. Establishment of authority.
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The Keystone Artificial Intelligence Authority is established
within the department.
Section 4. Governing board.
(a) Composition.--
(1) The duties of the authority shall be exercised by a
governing board consisting of the following members:
(i) A member appointed by the Governor.
(ii) A member appointed by the President pro tempore
of the Senate.
(iii) A member appointed by the Minority Leader of
the Senate.
(iv) A member appointed by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
(v) A member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
House of Representatives.
(2) Each member shall possess relevant experience in
artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, cloud
computing or machine learning.
(3) Each member shall be a resident of this
Commonwealth.
(b) Terms and chairperson.--
(1) The appointing authorities shall make initial
appointments within 30 days of the effective date of this
paragraph. A member's term shall begin on the date of
appointment and shall run concurrently with the term of the
appointing authority.
(2) The board shall elect a chairperson from among its
members at the organizational meeting and upon any vacancy in
that office. The chairperson shall serve a term of two years
or for the remainder of the chairperson's board term,
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whichever is first, and may be reelected for subsequent two-
year terms.
(3) A member shall serve at the pleasure of the
appointing authority. Vacancies shall be filled by the
appointing authority within 30 days.
(c) Organization.--The appointees of the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives shall jointly set the date, time and location of
the initial meeting of the board within five days of the
appointment of all initial members. The meeting shall be held
within 60 days of the effective date of this subsection. The
board may elect additional officers as necessary. A member may
hold more than one office within the board.
(d) Meetings.--
(1) The board shall meet as frequently as necessary but
not less than once per fiscal quarter. A meeting shall be
called by the chairperson upon written request of at least
two members.
(2) A majority of members shall constitute a quorum.
Actions shall be taken by majority vote unless otherwise
provided by the board. Meetings shall be conducted in
accordance with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings).
(e) Administrative support.--
(1) The board shall appoint an executive director.
(2) The department, in consultation with the executive
director, shall provide administrative services and staff as
necessary. Legal counsel shall be designated by the Office of
General Counsel.
(f) Restrictions.--No board member or executive director may
seek or hold another public office in this Commonwealth or serve
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as a party officer while serving with the authority.
(g) Applicable laws.--The following acts shall apply to the
authority:
(1) The act of July 19, 1957 (P.L.1017, No.451), known
as the State Adverse Interest Act.
(2) The act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as
the Right-to-Know Law.
(3) 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 11 (relating to ethics standards and
financial disclosure).
Section 5. Duties of authority.
(a) General duties.--The authority shall serve as the lead
coordinating entity of the Commonwealth to promote the
development of target industries through streamlined permitting,
strategic investment and administrative efficiency.
(b) Specific duties.--The authority shall have the following
duties:
(1) Administer this act.
(2) Promote and encourage the development of target
industries in this Commonwealth.
(3) Develop and administer a permit navigator program to
assist target industry applicants in coordinating and
expediting all State-level permitting processes. The permit
navigator program shall:
(i) designate an employee of the authority to serve
as a point of contact to work directly with all
applicants and provide assistance with the coordination
of necessary permitting and regulatory reviews required
to move the target industry project forward in a timely
fashion;
(ii) offer optional preapplication conferences for
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target industry projects to identify permitting
requirements, likely constraints and Commonwealth agency
points of contact before formal application submission;
and
(iii) operate and make available on the authority's
publicly accessible Internet website a permit navigator
system to:
(A) provide centralized permit application
tracking and communication;
(B) allow applicants to monitor the status of
their completed applications;
(C) publish performance indicators, including
average permit review timelines; and
(D) publish the maximum allowable permit review
timelines developed under paragraph (4).
(4) Coordinate with all relevant Commonwealth agencies
to develop and publish maximum allowable timelines for permit
reviews for target industries by submitting a notice to the
Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The timelines
shall not exceed 90 days for initial reviews and 30 days for
resubmissions. The following shall apply:
(i) If a Commonwealth agency fails to act on a
completed application within the established time frame,
and no justified extension has been granted, the permit
shall be deemed approved.
(ii) If a Commonwealth agency misses a published
deadline without justification, the applicant shall be
entitled to a full refund of any permit processing fee or
a credit toward future permit applications with the same
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agency.
(iii) If a Commonwealth agency fails to meet the
published deadline for two or more applications in a
calendar year, the Commonwealth agency shall submit a
written corrective action plan to the authority, the
Governor and the General Assembly.
(5) Coordinate with the Governor's Office of
Transformation and Opportunity to ensure alignment of
economic development initiatives, interagency permit
facilitation and strategic investment planning.
(6) Conduct examinations and investigations and hear
testimony and receive evidence at public or private hearings
on issues relating to the development of target industries in
this Commonwealth.
(7) Within six months of the date of the final
appointment to the board, compile and submit to the Governor
and the General Assembly a report identifying barriers to the
development of target industries and recommending legislative
and regulatory changes.
(8) Adopt bylaws governing the internal operations of
the authority.
(9) Enter into contracts and execute all instruments
necessary or convenient for conducting the authority's
business.
(10) Perform any other act necessary to carry out the
purposes of this act.
Section 6. Duties of other entities.
All development agencies, local authorities, municipalities
and Commonwealth agencies shall cooperate with the authority and
provide requested documentation.
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Section 7. Artificial Intelligence Permitting System Pilot
Program.
(a) Establishment.--The Artificial Intelligence Permitting
System Pilot Program is established within the Department of
Environmental Protection for the purposes of this section.
(b) Duties.--Within six months of the effective date of this
subsection, the Department of Environmental Protection shall
partner with an institution of higher education located in this
Commonwealth that offers specialized academic programming and
research in artificial intelligence to develop and implement an
artificial intelligence permitting system to assist employees of
the Department of Environmental Protection in the review and
processing of all permit applications administered by the
Department of Environmental Protection. The artificial
intelligence permitting system shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(1) Prescreen and review a permit application for
completeness, potential errors and compliance with applicable
laws and regulations.
(2) Assist in prioritizing the review of a permit
application.
(3) Provide employees of the Department of Environmental
Protection with an internal dashboard that contains the
following information for a permit application:
(i) Current status of the permit application.
(ii) The number of days since the permit application
was submitted to the Department of Environmental
Protection.
(iii) The estimated number of days until the permit
application is completed.
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(iv) All relevant supporting documents included with
the permit application.
(v) A record of all employee actions and
communications associated with the permit application.
(c) Report.--Within 18 months of the effective date of this
subsection, the Department of Environmental Protection shall
submit a report to the General Assembly and the authority on
detailing the effectiveness, employee satisfaction and
efficiency of the artificial intelligence permitting system.
Section 8. Keystone Artificial Intelligence Development Fund.
(a) Establishment.--The Keystone Artificial Intelligence
Development Fund is established as a restricted fund in the
State Treasury.
(b) Appropriation.--Money and accrued interest in the fund
are appropriated to the authority on a continuing basis to
implement this act.
Section 9. Fiscal year.
The fiscal year of the authority shall be the same as that of
the Commonwealth.
Section 10. Sovereign immunity.
Board members shall not be personally liable for the
obligations of the authority. The authority and its officials
and employees shall have sovereign and official immunity under 1
Pa.C.S. § 2310 (relating to sovereign immunity reaffirmed;
specific waiver) and 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 85 (relating to matters
affecting government units).
Section 11. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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