In the Event of an Emergency

Assuming a utility company has an active Emergency Permit Certificate, they are authorized to perform emergency work without first obtaining a Highway Occupancy Permit.

In the event of an emergency, utility companies are expected to follow this procedure:

1.      At the time of the emergency, someone in the organization should contact PennDOT.

2.      Within 15 days of the emergency, the utility company should submit a permit application for the work to PennDOT.

Contacting PennDOT

Utility companies can contact PennDOT in regards to an emergency 24/7 via EPS, by starting an emergency permit application. Doing so has several benefits:

·        They are simultaneously contacting PennDOT AND starting their required emergency permit application.

·        If the emergency work is currently ongoing, any district emergency contacts such as media, authorities, government officials, etc., will be automatically notified as well.

·        Utility companies will receive an e-mail notification to remind them to complete their permit application within 15 days.

For more information, please refer to Creating an Emergency Permit Application.