The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that it is reorganizing to better manage a burgeoning workload from the state’s booming oil and gas industry in the Marcellus Shale.

Under the proposal, the Bureau of Oil & Gas Management (BOGM) will become the Office of Oil & Gas Management (OOGM) with its own deputy secretary reporting directly to DEP administrators in the state capital, Harrisburg. Previously, BOGM program managers reported there and to regional offices in Pittsburgh, Williamsport and Meadville.

DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh told NGI that Scott Perry would serve as acting deputy secretary for the OOGM. She added that there would be no layoffs from the reorganization.

The DEP will also create two new bureaus — Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields under the Office of Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation, and Bureau of Conservation and Reclamation under the Office of Water Management — and two new offices — Pollution Prevention and Energy Assistance, and Program Integration.

“There’s no question that with the boom of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania there have been a lot more demands on the [DEP],” Sen. John Yudichak (D-Nanticoke), minority chair of the Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, told NGI. “I think this has the potential to be a positive decision if the reorganization improves coordination and consistency in the regulation of the natural gas industry.”

Industry officials were also supportive of the changes. “Secretary [Michael] Krancer’s decision to reorganize, streamline and modernize the DEP is a prudent step toward ensuring the agency can continue protecting the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians,” said Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber.

Marcellus activity has been booming. The DEP said that through the first eight months of the year it has issued 2,192 permits and operators reported drilling 1,241 wells in the Marcellus. Over the same time frame in 2010, the department issued 2,065 permits and operators reported drilling 903 wells. For the eight-month period in 2009, those figures were 1,127 and 329, respectively.

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