Michael Krancer is returning to the practice of law, Gov. Tom Corbett says.
Gov. Tom Corbett's often-controversial environmental
protection secretary will leave the post next month after two years of guiding
the agency that regulated Pennsylvania's
natural gas boom as he clashed with environmental advocates, federal regulators
and Democratic lawmakers.
Michael Krancer, who was a state environmental law judge and lawyer for energy giant Exelon Corp. before joining the Republican governor's administration, helped oversee Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission and handled emerging issues of river and air pollution as Pennsylvania worked to modernize its laws around drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
The agency was in "good hands" under his leadership, Corbett said in a statement, and cited Krancer's work to improve the way the Department of Environmental Protection operates. Krancer called working for Corbett and the department "the greatest honor of my career."
Corbett said Krancer, 55, will return to private law practice with the Philadelphia-based firm, Blank Rome, on April 15.