Town Frack Ban Cases Heard in NY Supreme Court Appellate Division
Yesterday, what happened in an Albany, NY courtroom was very important for all New York landowners. Four judges from the New York State Court Appellate Division heard the appeal of one driller and one landowner against two New York towns—Dryden and Middlefield—that have voted to permanently ban fracking within their borders, exercising what they call “home rule” (see Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases for background on the two cases). According to a 1981 state law, towns are specifically prohibited from regulating oil and gas activities. The two cases hinge on whether or not “to ban” is “to regulate.”
Lawyers for the towns argued that precedent allows them to determine land use in their borders—they’re not trying to say how drilling should be done, they’re saying whether it should be done, so that’s not regulating. Lawyers for Norse Energy (suing Dryden) and dairy farmer Jennifer Huntington (suing Middlefield) argued the ban violates state law and the land use case cited as precedent by the town’s lawyers (allowing towns to prohibit gravel mining) is vastly different from mining natural gas and oil.
How did it go? Whose arguments seemed to prevail? Depends on whom you ask…
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The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), an organization representing 77,000 landowners with over 1 million acres, issued an extensive update late yesterday on: the status of their lawsuit (which is proceeding); their need for fundraising to finance the lawsuit; and the rationale/strategy for the lawsuit. Even though recent comments by Gov. Cuomo offer a “tease” that he may soon approve fracking, the JLCNY says it’s moving forward with the lawsuit anyway, essentially telling Cuomo “we’ll believe it when we see it.”
An interesting development in the “As Cuomo Dithers” fracking soap opera. Freshly back from a road trip to confer with researchers studying the health effects of fracking, New York State Commissioner of Health Nirav Shah appeared at a press conference yesterday with Gov. Cuomo. In a surprise announcement, Shah said he will render his judgment on the question of frack/no frack “in weeks.” Cuomo himself made some encouraging remarks at the presser too, including his belief that the two-year moratorium bill passed by the NY Assembly last Wednesday is going nowhere fast.
Yesterday, as expected, the heavily Democrat New York State Assembly passed a bill (103 to 40) that would ban fracking in the state for yet another two years—even though fracking has already been banned for nearly five years (a copy of the bill as passed is embedded below). We’re not quite sure what another two years will tell us we don’t already know after five—but that’s Democrat jihadists for you. Harsh word there—jihad—but it was aptly used on the floor of the Assembly by a Republican assemblyman to describe what’s really going on in New York—and we concur.