CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The Corbett administration is apparently making changes to the state agency that primarily regulates Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry.

Sen. John Yudichak, the ranking Democrat on the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said Monday that an administration official told his office that it is elevating the status of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Management.

That would make it an office with its own deputy secretary inside the Department of Environmental Protection.

Department officials declined comment, although spokeswoman Katy Gresh denied a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that there would be layoffs elsewhere in the department.

The Post-Gazette also reported (http://bit.ly/qYLZ8p) that Secretary Michael Krancer e-mailed employees to say the reorganization is designed to boost efforts to protect human health and the environment, while ensuring statewide consistency in oil and gas regulation.

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