Pennsylvania is taking new steps to ensure public safety amid a rush to drill into what geologists believe could become the nation’s largest natural gas field, Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday.

The state plans to hire more inspectors to monitor a growing number of well sites and is writing tougher rules to prevent gas from leaking into nearby homes and water wells, Rendell said.

He called them “decisive, progressive protections for the people of Pennsylvania.”

Among other things, 68 new well inspectors would be hired to join the more than 100 already on staff, while the proposed new rules would lower the maximum well pressures, raise standards for well cement and pipes, and require drilling companies to restore water supplies they pollute.

The rules were available on the Web site of the Department of Environmental Protection, which is accepting public comments on them for 30 days before it plans to submit them to a rule making board.

An industry group, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said in a statement that it supports the state’s moves, as did several environmental groups that say the drilling could put the environment and public health at risk without more protection.

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