A Step-by-Step Guide to Searching eFACTS for Your Facility's PA DEP Permits, Stormwater Coverage, Inspections, and Violations
Pennsylvania DEP keeps a public database called eFACTS, short for Environment Facility Application Compliance Tracking System. It lists the facilities DEP regulates, the permits and other authorizations they hold, the inspections DEP has done, and any violations and enforcement that came out of them. Anyone with an internet connection can search it for free, and you don't need an account. Most business owners have never opened it. Your customers, lenders, buyers, insurers, and DEP's own inspectors may have, which is a good reason to see what it says about you before someone else does. This guide walks you through searching eFACTS, reading the results, and finding your permit numbers, stormwater coverage, inspection history, and violations.
We'll cover how to search by facility name, municipality, or county, how eFACTS organizes its records, where to find permits and authorizations for programs like stormwater, air, waste, and storage tanks, and how to read inspection and violation history. We'll also cover why your records might be filed under an old company name or a slightly different address, and what to do if you find something you didn't expect. Our focus is mostly on stormwater records, since that's where we see the most confusion, but the same steps work for every DEP program. Bookmark this page for the next time you need it, and if you'd like help making sense of what you find, feel free to reach out to RMA.
Table of Contents
TL;DR
eFACTS is PA DEP's free public database of regulated facilities, their permits, DEP inspections, and violations. Search by your company name, site name, or your county and municipality, then open your site to see each facility record, the permits and authorizations tied to it, and its inspection history with any violations noted. Customers, lenders, buyers, and inspectors can see the same information, so it's smart to check it yourself. If you can't find your facility, try older company names, partial names, and address variations, and if something looks wrong, contact the DEP regional office or get help sorting it out.
What Is PA DEP's eFACTS Database and Who Uses It?
eFACTS is the system DEP staff use to track who they regulate and what's happened at each location. The public version, called eFACTS on the Web, shows a large share of that same information. If DEP has issued your facility a permit, approved coverage under a general permit like PAG-03, registered your storage tanks, inspected your site, or cited a violation, there's a good chance it shows up there. The easiest way to find it is to search "eFACTS on the Web" on DEP's website or any search engine.
It covers far more than stormwater. Air quality permits, hazardous and residual waste, storage tanks, drinking water, mining, oil and gas, and other DEP programs all feed into it. For industrial stormwater, it's where your PAG-03 coverage, No Exposure Certification, or individual NPDES permit will appear, along with stormwater inspections. NPDES is the federal permit program for discharges to waterways, which DEP runs in Pennsylvania, and PAG-03 is DEP's general permit for stormwater from industrial facilities.
eFACTS is public, and plenty of people besides you use it:
| Who Looks |
What They're Usually Checking |
| DEP inspectors |
Your permits, past inspections, and open violations before they visit |
| Buyers and their consultants |
Compliance history and permits during due diligence and environmental site assessments |
| Lenders and insurers |
Whether the site carries regulatory risk |
| Large customers |
Whether a supplier is in good standing |
| Neighbors, reporters, and community groups |
Violations and complaints near them |
| Competitors |
Anything that could help them in a bid or a sales conversation |
If an old violation sits unresolved on your record, or your stormwater coverage looks lapsed when it isn't, those people see that version of your company. It's better to find out first.
What to Gather Before You Search eFACTS for Your Facility
eFACTS can be picky. Name searches often need the name entered the way DEP recorded it, and it isn't always forgiving about spelling, punctuation, or abbreviations. A few minutes of prep saves a lot of frustration.
Start with every name your company and site have gone by. That means your current legal name, any prior legal names, DBA names, the name of the company you bought the site from, and a parent company if a corporate office ever filed paperwork. DEP records are tied to whoever applied, so a facility bought ten years ago may still show the old owner's name, especially if a permit was never transferred. Next, gather your address variations. DEP may have recorded a street number, a route number, a mailing address in a different town, or just a road name and township. Pennsylvania's municipality layout makes this worse, since a facility with a city mailing address may sit in a neighboring township, and DEP usually files it by the actual municipality.
Finally, pull any permit paperwork you have. A DEP approval letter, a PAG-03 coverage approval, an air permit, a storage tank registration certificate, or an inspection report will often include a permit number, a site or facility ID, or a client ID. Any one of those numbers makes the search much faster. If you file stormwater results electronically, your eDMR account also shows your NPDES permit number.
How to Search eFACTS by Facility Name, Municipality, or County
The eFACTS home page offers several search types, including searches by client, site, facility, authorization, and inspection, plus a general name search and a search for sites by county and municipality. You don't need all of them. Here's the order we'd try them in.
Step 1: Try the Name Search First
The name search is the best place to start because it looks across clients, sites, and facilities at once. That matters because you may not know whether DEP filed your record under your company name, your site name, or something else. Enter the most distinctive part of your name rather than the whole thing. "Keystone Fabrication" will usually work better than "Keystone Fabrication & Steel, Inc." If you get nothing, drop words, try the old company name, or try the previous owner's name. If you get too many results, add the county to narrow it.
Step 2: Search Sites by County and Municipality
If names aren't working, search by location. Pick your county, then your municipality, and eFACTS will list the DEP-regulated sites there. In a busy industrial township the list can be long, but you can usually scan it for your street or a familiar name. This is often the fastest way to find a facility filed under a name you'd never have guessed. Remember to check the neighboring municipality if your mailing address and actual location don't match.
Step 3: Search by Permit or Authorization Number
If you have a permit number from your paperwork, the authorization search goes straight to it. This is the most reliable search when you have the number, because it skips the name problems entirely.
| Search Type |
Use It When |
Tip |
| Name search |
You know a company or site name |
Use one or two distinctive words, not the full legal name |
| Sites by county and municipality |
Names aren't working |
Check neighboring municipalities too |
| Authorization search |
You have a permit number |
Copy the number exactly as it appears on your paperwork |
| Client, site, or facility search |
You have a DEP ID number |
ID numbers are the most precise way in |
| Inspection search |
You want inspections in an area or date range |
Narrow by county and dates to keep results manageable |
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How to Read eFACTS Results: Clients, Sites, and Facilities
The first thing that confuses people is that eFACTS doesn't think in terms of "your business." It splits your record into three layers, and once you understand them, the screens make a lot more sense.
| eFACTS Term |
What It Means in Plain Words |
| Client |
The company or person DEP deals with, usually the permit holder. One client can have many sites. |
| Site |
The physical location, like your property. One site can contain several facilities. |
| Primary facility |
A regulated operation at that site, often one per DEP program. Your plant might have one for stormwater, one for air, and one for storage tanks. |
| Authorization |
A permit, approval, registration, or coverage under a general permit. |
| Inspection |
A DEP visit or review, with a result and any violations found. |
When you open your site, you'll usually see a list of the facilities attached to it. Each one represents a different piece of DEP's oversight. A manufacturing plant might show a stormwater discharge, an air emission source, a hazardous waste generator, and an aboveground storage tank facility all under one site. Opening each facility takes you to its own authorizations and inspections. If you only look at one facility, you can miss half the picture, so click through every one listed.
It's also common to find more than one site record for the same property. That usually happens when different programs set up records at different times, or when an owner change created a new client and site instead of updating the old one. Look for duplicates under old names before deciding you've seen everything.
Finding Permit Numbers and Stormwater Coverage in eFACTS
From a facility record, open its authorizations. Each one generally shows the authorization or permit number, the type of authorization, its status, and key dates like when it was received, issued, or expires. The type tells you which program it belongs to, and the status tells you whether it's still in effect or has expired, been terminated, or is still pending.
For stormwater, here's what to look for. If your facility has PAG-03 coverage, you'll see an authorization tied to the industrial stormwater general permit with its own permit number. That's the number you use on your Discharge Monitoring Reports and when you contact DEP. If your facility has a No Exposure Certification, look for an authorization reflecting that instead. If you have an individual NPDES permit, it will show as its own permit. Check that the status matches what you believe. PAG-03 runs on a five-year permit cycle, and No Exposure Certifications have to be renewed every five years, so an old approval that was never renewed may show up as expired. If you expected stormwater coverage and don't see any, look into it before an inspector asks the same question. Our article on general, individual, and No Exposure options explains what each type of coverage means.
The same screens show authorizations for other programs. Air quality plan approvals and operating permits, residual and hazardous waste records, and storage tank registrations each appear under their own facility. A quick inventory table helps when you're pulling it together for a buyer, a lender, or your own records:
| What to Record |
Why It Matters |
| Each facility name and program |
Shows every DEP program that touches the site |
| Each authorization number and type |
You'll need these for reports, renewals, and DEP correspondence |
| Status and expiration dates |
Flags renewals coming due and anything that lapsed |
| Client name on each record |
Reveals permits still in a prior owner's name |
That last row catches a lot of facilities. If a permit is still in the previous owner's name, it may never have been formally transferred, which is a problem to fix rather than ignore.
Checking Inspection History and Violations in eFACTS
Each facility record lists DEP's inspections, usually with the date, the type of inspection, and the result. Most results fall into two buckets: no violations were noted, or violations were noted. Some inspections are administrative reviews rather than site visits, such as a review of a report you submitted, so don't be surprised to see entries for visits you don't remember.
When an inspection shows violations, open it. eFACTS generally lists each violation with a description or the regulation cited, plus whether and when it was resolved. Where DEP took enforcement action, like a notice of violation, a consent order, or a civil penalty, that usually shows too, along with any penalty amount. Look carefully at whether old violations show as resolved. A violation you fixed years ago can still look open if DEP never received or recorded the follow-up. A buyer's consultant or lender will flag it.
For stormwater, common issues include missing or late Discharge Monitoring Reports, PPC Plan problems, missed inspections, and discharges that don't match the permit. A PPC Plan, short for Preparedness, Prevention and Contingency Plan, is the written stormwater plan PAG-03 requires. If you want to know what an inspector looks at during a visit, see what happens during a PA DEP stormwater inspection, and for patterns we see often, read common NPDES permit problems and how we fix them.
If you find open violations, consent orders, or penalties, talk with an environmental attorney about how to respond, especially if a sale, refinancing, or contract is in play. Technical fixes and legal strategy often need to happen together.
What to Do When Your eFACTS Records Are Missing or Look Wrong
eFACTS is useful, but it isn't perfect or complete. Records can sit under an old company name, a previous owner, a misspelled name, or an address that's slightly off. Some older records were entered inconsistently, and not every document in DEP's files appears online. The public site shows summaries, not the full inspection reports, plans, and correspondence in DEP's files.
If you can't find your facility at all, work through the name and address variations above before assuming there's no record. If you truly can't find one and you know you should have coverage, that's a sign to check whether a permit was ever issued. If you find records you don't recognize, like a facility from a previous owner or a violation you didn't know about, write down the IDs and dates. For full documents, DEP offers informal file reviews through its regional offices, where you can request to see the complete file. If something on eFACTS is simply wrong, like a resolved violation still showing open or a permit tied to the wrong client, contact the DEP regional office that oversees your county and ask how to correct it. Keep your own copies of approvals, submittals, and correspondence so you can back up your side.
Make a habit of checking your eFACTS records once a year, before any permit renewal, and before you sell, refinance, or take on a major customer who might do a compliance review.
How RMA Helps Pennsylvania Facilities Review Their eFACTS Records
We're a family-run environmental consulting firm based in New Jersey, and we work with facilities across Pennsylvania. Plenty of facilities can check eFACTS themselves using the steps above, and if everything looks right, you may not need us at all. When the records are confusing, or they show something unexpected, we can help. We'll review your eFACTS records alongside your own files, sort out which permits and authorizations apply to your site, flag anything expired, missing, or still in a prior owner's name, and help you figure out what needs attention. For stormwater, that can mean confirming whether you need PAG-03 coverage or a No Exposure Certification, updating your PPC Plan, or catching up on reporting.
There's no pressure and no obligation. You can call us at 888-RMA-0230, send us an email, or fill out the form on our website. If you've looked up your facility and aren't sure what you're seeing, contact RMA and we'll walk through it with you.
