The order applies only to enforcement actions in the Marcellus Shale, the gas-rich formation that has drawn a flood of drilling companies to northern and western Pennsylvania.
According to Hanger, there has never been a similar directive in DEP.
John Hines, the DEP executive deputy secretary, sent an e-mail March 23 to other senior staff, including four regional directors and the head of the department's oil and gas division.
"Effective immediately," it said, all violations must first be sent to him and another DEP deputy secretary in Harrisburg - with "final clearance" from Michael Krancer, DEP secretary.
"Any waiver from this directive will not be acceptable," Hines wrote. Regional directors reinforced the stern message in their own e-mails to staff.
Formal notices of violation, or NOV's in DEP parlance, are the inspectors' main tool in enforcing compliance with environmental rules. Drilling companies have to meet a host of standards for operating their wells, managing erosion, preventing spills, and disposing of the polluted wastewater left over from the process used to extract the gas, known as fracking.
For decades, DEP inspectors in the field have had the authority to write violations on their own. Companies may appeal if they disagree with the findings.
A DEP spokeswoman said the policy was designed to make sure that all natural gas firms, regardless of where they were drilling, were treated the same by regulators.
"It is a response to the many complaints the secretary has received from legislators and constituents," said spokeswoman Katy Gresh. "They believe DEP is inconsistent, particularly when it comes to Marcellus Shale."
She also said that Corbett's office did not order the policy shift, and that it did not mean the department was buckling to pressure from industry.
"This is not political," she said.
