ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Three state Assembly committee
chairmen asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to suspend the comment
period on new gas drilling regulations until a health review is
completed.
The 30-day comment period for revised regulations for
shale gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, ends Friday.
Numerous environmental groups and elected officials from around the
state have called on Cuomo to suspend the comment period until
regulations are revised to reflect the health impact review findings.
Fracking is under moratorium in New York until the debate is resolved.
"If
the public is to provide meaningful comment on the proposed
regulations, the public should be able to see the studies and analysis
that were produced at public expense," read the letter sent to Cuomo by
Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman Robert Sweeney,
Health Chairman Richard Gottfried and Regulation Review Chairman Charles
Lavine.
Fracking, a technology that releases gas from shale by
injecting a well with millions of gallons of chemically treated water
and sand, has made it possible to tap into deep reserves of oil and gas
but has also raised concerns about pollution. Regulators contend that
water and air pollution problems are rare, but environmental groups and
some scientists say there hasn't been enough research on those issues.
The
technology has drawn intense scrutiny since the focus of gas drilling
companies has shifted in recent years to the Marcellus Shale, a massive
rock formation underlying New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West
Virginia.
The three chairmen are holding a public hearing Thursday
on the New York regulations and have asked Department of Environmental
Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens and Health Commissioner Nirav
Shah to attend and bring all information provided to the three outside
experts asked to review DEC's health impact analysis.
They also
called on the Cuomo administration to disclose all materials related to
the health study requested under the Freedom of Information Law by environmental advocates and others. The Associated Press submitted FOIL
requests to Cuomo's office and the health and environmental agencies in
September seeking documents and communications related to DEC's review
of the health impacts of shale gas development, but no documents have
been provided so far.
Under state law for making new regulations,
DEC had a deadline of Nov. 29 to finalize its rules for fracking. DEC
filed for a 90-day extension to allow time for a health impact review to
be completed.
If the new deadline at the end of February is
missed, DEC would have to reissue regulations and hold public hearings,
potentially adding months onto an environmental impact review that
started in July 2008. Shale gas development has been banned in New York
since the review began.
DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said agency
personnel won't attend the Assembly hearing, noting that the agency has
already participated in three Assembly hearings. But she said DEC will
consider comments submitted at the hearing as it continues its
environmental review.
"DEC will not take any final action or make
any decision regarding hydraulic fracturing until after Dr. Shah's
health review is completed and DEC, through the environmental impact
statement, is satisfied that this activity can be done safely in New
York state," DeSantis said via email.
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