Pennsylvania Places April 3rd Deadline On COVID-19 Closure Exemption Applications

Run a non-“life sustaining” business in Pennsylvania and want to continue operating a physical location? Better get your waiver application in fast.  Late yesterday, Pennsylvania updated its closure-order “FAQs” to impose an April 3, 2020 5:00 p.m. deadline on exemption applications. 

The exemptions are only required for businesses with a NAICS code that places them within a non-“life sustaining” category (see our previous alert here).  Pennsylvania has periodically updated its list of “life sustaining” categories, and a current chart is available here.  Updates to the “life sustaining” list and FAQs are posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s webpage.  To check if a company falls within a “life sustaining” category, look at the first four digits of the company’s NAICS code and compare it to the most recent chart. 

To be eligible for an exemption, a business must show that its physical operations are “necessary to maintain operations of a business on the life-sustaining list.”  In their exemption applications, per the FAQs, businesses should identify the “category of critical infrastructure or life sustaining business to which they provide goods or services, the extent of their activity which this category comprises, and specific examples of critical or life sustaining infrastructure businesses or sectors with which the applicant business has contracts.” Pennsylvania will assess exemption applications using the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA Advisory Version 1.1, originally issued on March 19, 2020, as amended on March 23, 2020.  Exemptions, if granted, will apply only to the “activities” of a business that the waiver request “specifically identified” as “essential” to a “life sustaining” activity. 

To apply for an exemption, businesses should fill out the simple online form. 

Businesses that are not “life sustaining” must cease most physical operations.  However, they are permitted limited on-site staff to perform “essential” functions such as processing payroll and maintaining security. 

Seyfarth is continuing to monitor the situation, and will provide updates as available.  

Jacob Oslick, a Counsel in the New York office, is admitted in Pennsylvania and practices extensively in the Commonwealth.