In his seat, Plassio will oversee the state’s six district mining offices, which themselves manage active mine permitting, monitoring and enforcement.

Plassio also will lead 217 employees in offices in across Pennsylvania, including its California, Cambria, Greensburg, Knox, Moshannon and Pottsville locations, and will administer the state’s oversight of blasting and the Mine Subsidence Insurance Program.

In addition to developing contracts for mine site reclamations that have forfeited bonds, Plassio will negotiate the establishment of trust funds to pay for the treatment of coal mine drainage from both active and abandoned sites.

Plassio, a licensed professional engineer, is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Before his most recent seat, he worked as a mining engineer in various sections of the state’s mining program.

The PA DEP also has tapped Michael Menghini to serve as assistant director for district mining operations.

Menghini, a three-decade veteran of the agency’s mining programs, will continue to work on his previous duties of managing the state’s District Mining Office in Pottsville while also assisting with oversight for the other five facilities.

Pennsylvania has more than 600 active bituminous and anthracite mines, and consistently ranks as the fourth-largest coal producing state in the US.

The state is the only one in the nation that produces anthracite coal, valuable for its high heat content.