Tagged: dec

One thing is clear - the delayed health review is now the key factor in deciding whether or not fracking will go ahead in New York.

On Tuesday, Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah sent a letter to Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens saying he needs more time to complete his health review. Martens then announced that his department’s environmental study, known as the SGEIS, will be delayed until Dr. Shah is done.

That means final regulations won’t be released at the end of the month. The SGEIS was due Wednesday to meet a Feb. 27 deadline for the regulations. Now that the SGEIS is on hold, the regulations will go back out for public comment.

But that delay won’t necessarily slow down fracking.

Department of Health Commissioner Nirav Shah sent a letter to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens today, asking for more time to complete a review of the public health impacts of fracking.

This means that the DEC will miss tomorrow's deadline to complete its overall environmental review of fracking (known as the SGEIS), and the regulations it's written to govern the industry will expire at the end of the month.

This development could stall a final decision on fracking for months, but in a statement Martens says his agency will still be able to issue well permits if the health review concludes that the SGEIS is adequate.

New York’s DEC Commissioner Joe Martens suggested today that the state may miss a February 27th deadline to complete its proposed fracking regulations.

And that could stall a decision on gas drilling for months.