NY Update: New Rules Won’t Be Done Before Fall

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productivity challengedIs it any surprise that eager beaver, go-get-em NY Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens now says that his department’s review of comments on proposed new fracking rules won’t be done before end of summer, “perhaps”? No, not a surprise at all. This is typical Martens delay tactic behavior.

Martens, speaking in Albany on Thursday, told business leaders of this arbitrary new delay. Can anyone say “productivity challenged”?

There’s no timeline for a decision on whether fracking of shale gas wells will be allowed in New York state, but the review will likely continue through the summer, the state’s top environmental regulator told business leaders Thursday.

Speaking at a conference held by the Business Council in Albany on Thursday…Martens said the agency doesn’t have a specific date yet for an update on the environmental review and proposed regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing of shale gas wells.

New York hasn’t issued permits for shale gas wells using horizontal drilling and fracking since it began its review of the technology in 2008…

"It’s a very long and tedious process" to review and respond to the 66,700 comments submitted on the DEC’s 1,500-page environmental impact study, Martens said. Martens and his executive staff must also review the agency’s responses and sign off on them and make revisions to the study, he said.

"We hope over the course of the summer, perhaps we’ll complete the process," Martens said.*

Perhaps indeed. Until we get to the end of summer and all-of-a-sudden there’s another reason to delay. And yet another year has slipped by. Enough with Mr. Martens. If he can’t get the job done, find someone who can. How long with Gov. Cuomo tolerate this?

*Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin/AP (Apr 20, 2012) – DEC chief: No decision imminent on fracking

11 Comments

  1. Time for the JLCNY to sue the State. Enough is enough and Cuomo and Martens need to be held accountable. 66K comments can be read through in 1 month. The lies and deceit by the head of the DEC are deplorable. It is time to walk onto the Capitol Grounds in Albany and protest the lack of action by our elected officials!!!

  2. Blueflames you are 100% right!!! Time to sue!!! New York State is so corrupt and screwed up its unbelievable!! Our politicians have cost us a fortune and truly do not look out for the interest of thier people. The entire country is watching them screw our economy up and pity those of us who live here—- thats why businesses are running to get out and none are coming in!!!  Ask anyone from out of state what they hear at home about our political circus!!!

  3. I agree. Moratoriums are a temporary measure. NY has crossed the line and caused financial harm to landowners. The only logical next step is a very large landowner lawsuit. And I am saying this is of the billions, not millions….

  4. If New York State is “corrupt and screwed-up” and “does not look out for the interests of their people”, if the DEC Commissioner of DEC practices “lies and deceit”, and if the whole SGEIS process is “insanity” and a “political circus”, then isn’t the only solution to cede authority to the federal EPA? 😉

  5. Just some more food for thought, I googled “definition of moratorium” and this is what I found:
    Government bodies may declare moratoria for a broad range of reasons. For
    example, a local government may attempt to regulate property development by
    imposing a moratorium on the issuance of building permits. The legality of such
    a moratorium is generally determined by measuring its impact on the affected
    parties. In 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain moratoria on property
    development may be unconstitutional takings, thus making it more difficult for
    local governments to slow development in their communities (First English
    Evangelical Lutheran Church v. Los Angeles County, 482 U.S. 304, 107 S. Ct.
    2378, 96 L. Ed. 2d 250). On the other hand, in 1995 the Court upheld a
    thirty-day moratorium on lawyer advertising that was challenged as an
    infringement of First Amendment rights (Florida
    Bar v. Went For It, Inc., 515 U.S. 618, 115 S. Ct. 2371, 132 L. Ed. 2d
    541).

  6.  The EPA would be a great option to oversee this process. NEW YORK STATE HAS PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THEY CANNOT ACT OR MAKE DECISIONS WITHOUT TAKING FOREVER AT NEW YORKERS EXPENSE DUE TO POLITICAL PRESSURES. I TRULY THOUGHT GOVERNOR CUOMO WAS A LEADER AND THIS STUFF WOULD STOP—BUT I GUESS NOT!!!  BY THE WAY IF ANYBODY HAD PROVEN OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS THAT NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT WOULD HURT NEW YORK IN ANYWAY, I WOULDN’T BE FOR IT EITHER—BUT STUDY AFTER STUDY HAS SHOWN ITS GOING TO BE VERY POSITIVE GAME CHANGER!! OK ALBANY KEEP COMPLAINING YOU HAVE NO MONEY FOR SCHOOLS,ROADS,HEALTH COVERAGE,JOBS,UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, ECT.ECT.ECT AND KEEP YOUR MORATORIUM IN PLACE TO SUPPRESS YOUR HARD WORKING,MUCH DESERVING, PEOPLE!!!!

  7.  I have said over and over on this blog that his delay tactic’s would hurt NYer’s severely. I felt that once the SGEIS was finalized we landowners should have filed a suit to reinstate drilling while this “review of comments” dragged on. The vast majority of comments could have been thrown in the circular file( trash) due to the simple fact that they are  “personal opinions” for or against drilling and have nothing of importance to add to the SGEIS. The few remaining that have any merit still should not have delayed the process from moving forward for permitting, since there was  few ” New” additions to the older version and were drawn up by a panel of “Professionals and Environmentalists” to ensure safety constraints.Cuomo is strictly about popularity and reelection stats, he won’t make a move until the last possible second. Martens is a staunch Anti, their hand must be forced for anything to move forward, he has used every delay tactic(within the law) to stop progress , which turned out to hurt the NY market severely. His complacency has cost the State of NY billions of dollars in tax revenue but more importantly the people of the State to enjoy the much needed income this would have produced 3-4 years ago. With NG at an all time low, even if the door opens now, Drillers wont be knocking doors down to get here. Our neighboring states have been enjoying prosperity, job and economic growth, while our state has enjoyed economic stagnation, foreclosures,and a mass exodus out of NY State. Cuomo and Martens must be voted out of office.The Democratic machine of borrowing more today( Bridge and Road project) and hoping that things will get better soon is GONE. Unaffordable gas prices, OPEC, stagnating economy for 5 years, has not moved them to make any changes, we landowners must unite and Sue NY to lift the moratorium and loss of income. NOW !!!