Indoor restaurant capacity in Pennsylvania will be expanded to 50 percent starting Sept. 21.

According to a Wednesday statement from Gov. Tom Wolf, restaurants will “commit to strictly complying to all public health and safety guidelines and orders through a self-certification process” as part of this expansion.

“While our aggressive and appropriate mitigation efforts have kept case counts low, we must continue to take important steps to protect public health and safety as we head into the fall. At the same time, we must also support the retail food services industry that has struggled throughout this pandemic,” Gov. Tom Wolf said.

“The self-certification ensures that restaurants can expand indoor operations and commit to all appropriate orders so that employees and customers alike can be confident they are properly protected.”

A searchable database – Open & Certified Pennsylvania – will be available for customers to use to find entities that are certified “ensuring that consumers can make more informed choices about the food establishments they are looking to patronize,” the statement said.

That self-certification information will go live online on Sept. 21 and will detail the requirements, a statement that the owner agrees to abide by the requirements, which could carry penalties, and the maximum indoor capacity.

“The novel coronavirus has created new challenges for Pennsylvania businesses, and it is critical that we provide avenues of support for our restaurants, which have been disproportionately impacted,” Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin explained. “Open & Certified Pennsylvania will instill consumer faith and allow our small businesses to recover more quickly, and we want to make the process as simple and easy as possible. The list of frequently asked questions we are releasing today will help ensure that this transition goes as smoothly as possible for Pennsylvania businesses.”

Any restaurant that wishes to ?increase to 50 percent indoor capacity on September 21 must complete the online self-certification process by October 5 according to the governor’s office.

“Social distancing, masking and other mitigation measures must be employed to protect workers and patrons,” the statement explained. “Further, starting September 21 restaurants that have alcohol sales will close alcohol sales at 10:00 p.m.”

“The commonwealth will continue its measured approach to easing restrictions, keeping the rest of the targeted mitigation tactics specific to the food retail industry in place as restaurants increase capacity to 50 percent.”

“We recognize the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Pennsylvania’s small businesses, especially on our restaurants,” Wolf explained. “Through this self-certification process, our commonwealth’s restaurant industry will ensure the safety and well-being of both employees and patrons alike, and will be able to begin a return to normal operations and financial recovery.”