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About DEP - Executive Staff
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Executive Deputy Secretary
Administration and Management
Jeff Logan
Jeffrey M. Logan is the Executive Deputy Secretary for Administration and Management in the Department of Environmental Protection. In this capacity, Jeffrey oversees the agency's budget, human resources, information technology, and business process management. Prior to his appointment as Executive Deputy Secretary, Jeffrey was responsible for government relations and business development for Harris Corporation, an international communications and technology company.
In addition, Jeffrey served as Deputy Secretary of Administration for the Department of State and the Department of Public Welfare under Governor Ridge. Jeffrey was known as a leader with a clear focus, delivering innovative solutions and programs to improve government services.
Jeffrey holds a BS and an MBA from the Pennsylvania State University. As someone who is dedicated to professional growth and community awareness, he is a 2007 graduate of the Harrisburg Leadership Program and serves on the boards of area non-profit organizations. |
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Special Deputy Secretary
External Affairs
Alisa Harris
Alisa Harris is the Special Deputy Secretary for External Affairs at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. As Special Deputy Secretary, Ms. Harris serves as a liaison between the agency and outside stakeholders whose interests are directly related to or impacted by the agency's mission. Ms. Harris oversees special projects that have department-wide significance, including projects that cross program lines.
Ms. Harris has more than 20 years of experience in the environmental field through various public and private sector roles in communications, policy development and permit management. Prior to her appointment as Special Deputy Secretary, Ms. Harris served as the Environmental Policy Manager for Exelon Generation and was responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with environmental and transportation regulators, as well as providing guidance on environmental regulations and policies. Preceding her time at Exelon, Ms. Harris served as the Regulatory and Community Affairs Manager for Waste Management of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Before transitioning to the private sector, Ms. Harris worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection serving as the Director of the Office of Environmental Advocacy. Utilizing her environmental policy, communication, and mediation skills, she developed a multi-stakeholder environmental justice work group. In addition, Ms. Harris has served as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary for Water Management and Regional Community Relations Manager.
Ms. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from James Madison University. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Shalom House of Harrisburg, a non-profit homeless shelter service provider, for women and their children. |
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Deputy Secretary
Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation
Vince Brisini
Vince Brisini is the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. As Acting Deputy Secretary, Mr. Brisini oversees the bureaus of Waste Management, Air Quality, Radiation Protection and Environmental Clean Up and Brownfields.
Mr. Brisini brings to the Department over 35 years of experience as a highly successful environmental manager. Prior to his appointment, he served as a Director at Leonardo Technologies, Inc., where he provided support to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). His areas of expertise include ambient air quality, continuous emissions monitoring, licensing and permitting, emissions trading policies and strategies, emissions testing, emissions control strategies, regulatory analysis and policy advocacy.
He has acted in an advisory capacity to US EPA, the Ozone Transport Commission and also previously to the Department. Mr. Brisini has served as a member of various committees such as the Acid Rain Advisory Committee/NOx Subcommittee, the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, DEP's Mercury Rule Workgroup and DEP's Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee.
Mr. Brisini holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences, Air and Water Pollution from Slippery Rock University. |
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Deputy Secretary
Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations
John Stefanko
John Stefanko is the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. As Deputy Secretary Mr. Stefanko oversees the bureaus of Mining Programs, Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Mine Safety, and the District Mining Operations.
Mr. Stefanko has been with the Department since 1987. Prior to his recent appointment John was the Executive Assistant and served as the senior advisor to the previous Deputy Secretary until his retirement in December 2010. He has also served as the Chief, of DEP's Division of Contracts, Procurement and Bonding within the Bureau of Office Services, where he managed bidding, awarding and management of the activities of all construction contracts and the procurement of goods and services for the Department. Prior to that, he was a Project Designer for the Department's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Division of Acid Mine Drainage Abatement, where he reviewed and created engineering designs for departmental mine reclamation, water supply replacements, mine fire control, subsidence control, abandoned mine lands projects and other associated facilities.
Mr. Stefanko holds an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, Altoona Campus and Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
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Chief Counsel
Office of Chief Counsel
David Raphael
Mr. Raphael serves as Chief Counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel in the Department of Environmental Protection. In that capacity, Mr. Raphael provides legal counsel on environmental matters on to the Department's Secretary and Executive Staff. He also oversees a legal team of 70 environmental attorneys statewide, who represent the Department in a wide array of environmental compliance, litigation, and transactional matters.
Mr. Raphael's experience as an environmental practitioner – both in the public and private sectors – spans 17 years. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Raphael served a partner in the law firm of Saul Ewing LLP, where he represented clients in environmental litigation matters before the Environmental Hearing Board, various state and federal administrative boards, and state and federal courts throughout the Commonwealth. Mr. Raphael also served as environmental counsel on deal teams concerning the acquisition and sale of assets for national and international business concerns. He also counseled clients on a wide range of environmental compliance issues, including the implementation of environmental compliance programs and environmental audit policies.
Prior to entering private practice, he served as Deputy Attorney General with the Environmental Crimes Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. As a Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Raphael served as the lead trial attorney for complex environmental cases in state trial courts around the Commonwealth, and represented the OAG in appellate matters before state appellate courts. His duties also included review and approval of charging documents, search warrants, and investigative plans. Mr. Raphael also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he was involved in the prosecution of a significant laboratory fraud matter. His career began with the Office of Chief of Counsel in the Department of Environmental Protection, serving as Assistant Counsel and Special Assistant Counsel, and representing the Commonwealth in environmental matters before the Environmental Hearing Board, Commonwealth Court, and Superior Court, and negotiating a number of the first redevelopment agreements under Act 2.
Mr. Raphael received his undergraduate degree in English, with honors, from Lynchburg College, and received his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Dickinson Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. He also served as member of the Dickinson's mock trial team, which won a regional championship in New York City and competed in the national finals. Mr. Raphael now serves as a visiting judge for the law school's Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy programs.
Mr. Raphael has served as a contributing author to the award-winning Environmental Law Handbook, published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and has published articles on environmental matters in various legal publications.
He is a supporter of philanthropic activities in Central Pennsylvania, including fundraising events for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Capital Region and United Way.
Mr. Raphael lives with his wife, Michele, and their two children in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
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Deputy Secretary
Field Operations
Dana Aunkst
Mr. Aunkst began his commonwealth career with the Department of Environmental Resources (DER) in 1985 as a sanitary engineer in DEP's northeast regional office in Meadville. He also worked for a period of time in the northcentral regional office in Williamsport. He has been with the department off and on for 19 years and has worked in the environmental industry for over 25 years. Mr. Aunkst previously worked in private industry as a consulting environmental engineer, an industrial plant engineer, and for local government as a Public Works Manager. Mr. Aunkst holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University and is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania. |
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Deputy Secretary
Water Management
Kelly Heffner Kelly has served most recently as Acting Deputy Secretary for Field Operations from March 2010 to March 2011. Prior to that, she served as Policy Director for DEP and has served as the DEP's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) Coordinator. Other previous positions held by Kelly include Executive Policy Specialist in the DEP Policy Office where she has developed policy, regulations, and guidance. In particular, she has functioned as the policy liaison for all water related policy matters and has provided input to legislative committees regarding the interpretation of policy recommendations; Chief of the Permitting Section in the Division of Waterways, Wetlands and Storm Water Management where she supervised professional staff who were responsible for the development of program guidance, policies, regulations, that supported the permitting processes. She began her career at DEP as a Water Pollution Biologist in the Northeast Regional Office and later in Central Office where she provided technical expertise to central and regional office staff and served as an expert on wetlands matters.
Before joining DEP, Kelly also worked for five years in the private sector as a Project Manager and Biologist for RMC Environmental Services in Pottstown.
Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from East Stroudsburg University. |
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