A Marcellus Shale drilling rig could be coming soon to a state park near you.



Last week, the Department of Environmental Protection quietly rescinded a policy requiring an environmental-impact review prior to Marcellus natural gas drilling in most of Pennsylvania's state parks.



It was one of the few regulations allowing the state to have a say in the location of drilling operations on land where the state does not own the rights to the minerals below. And Pennsylvania does not own the mineral rights under 85 percent of its state parks.



Acting DEP Secretary Michael Krancer published a short notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on Friday announcing the decision and claiming the policy was "unnecessary and redundant of existing practice." He also said the policy wasn't subject to advance public comment.



The move drew swift condemnation from environmental activists, who noted the nearly $1 million in oil and gas industry contributions to Gov. Tom Corbett during his campaign.



"Just like we predicted, Tom Corbett is going to do everything he can for his friends in the gas industry," said Gene Stilp, who led anti-drilling protests during Corbett's inauguration.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell instituted the policy last year.

The revocation of the policy was sharply criticized by former DCNR Secretary John Quigley, who said “the vast majority of work” required by the policy fell not on the gas industry but on DCNR.



Quigley acknowledged the lack of public comment on the DEP policy ran counter to long-standing practice within his own department, saying, "To the extent I didn't push for that, I regret it."



But Quigley said, "What's much more telling and troubling is the contention it's duplicative of existing policy — it is absolutely not."



Quigley said the policy required due diligence similar to that which DCNR performed before it leased state forestland for drilling.



"The intent was not to stop drilling," he said, "but to duplicate a very successful process in which the state collaborates with drillers to minimize the impact of drilling on the public resource."



The policy required a review of threatened and endangered species habitat, water resources, public recreation areas, wetlands and floodplains, air quality, noise and road placement and construction methods.



When the state does not own the mineral rights, no such requirement exists, he said.



"To walk away from it with the claim it's redundant is simply not accurate," Quigley said. "Environmental review is not done and is not required when the commonwealth doesn't own the mineral rights."



The regulation remaining after Krancer's action, Quigley said, "is not in any way, shape or form an extensive environmental review."



"I'm sure the industry realizes it's going to be under a microscope, especially in the state parks, and to help them avoid environmental impacts is in everybody's best interest," he said.



DEP referred calls to the governor's press office.



Eric Shirk, a spokesman for Corbett, said, "The governor believes it's important to protect our public lands, but he believes this policy was redundant."



"When drillers drill anywhere — public lands or not — the drillers have to demonstrate they are mitigating the impact," Shirk said. He added that DCNR "has the ability to raise objections just as any other landowner would. They can raise objections to DEP."



Still, environmentalists worry about the prospect of reduced protection for parks.



"The answer is not to turn our state parks and forests over to drillers and hope for the best," said Jan Jarrett, president of PennFuture. "DEP should immediately open public comment on the previous administration's policy, which was based on sound science."



Jeff Schmidt of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club said, "This is where large numbers of people go for recreation and wild experiences."



The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which has been cautious in its approach to the Marcellus issue, decried the move.



"Given the concerns and unknowns that remain about the impacts of Marcellus production, generally, it makes no sense to remove any protections we have in place for drilling on land that belongs to the people of the commonwealth," said Matt Ehrhart, Pennsylvania executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.





