DRBC tweaks proposed gas drilling regulations
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Delaware River Basin Commission has tweaked the regulations it plans to impose on the natural gas drilling industry, but it is still not enough for the state’s attorney general.
The commission published a second set of draft regulations on its website Tuesday and plans to vote on them later this month. The rules are designed to allow drilling in the watershed while protecting water quality in the Delaware and its tributaries.
The DRBC has declared a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling projects in the four-state Delaware River basin until the rulemaking process is complete. The DRBC has jurisdiction because the drilling process will require the withdrawal of huge amounts of water from the watershed's streams and rivers.
The commission published initial draft regulations last December. It revised them after getting public input. However, in late May, the AG filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal government agencies that regulate the Basin “for failing to perform a full review of actions that may cause significant environmental impacts, such as hydraulic fracturing.”
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said the DRBC’s second draft of regulations still lack an environmental impact study, which he said is required by law.
“By issuing these modified draft regulations, the federal government continues to ignore New Yorkers’ concerns about the impact fracking may have on our environment, health and homes,” a press release from the AG’s office states. “Without it, the federal government does not have a complete understanding of the health and safety risks fracking poses, even as it stands to open up the Delaware River Basin to thousands of new gas wells.”
Only a sliver of the Chenango County land leased for future natural gas development is within the DRBC. The vast majority of Norse Energy, Inc.’s holdings (the company most active here) fall within the Susquehanna River Basin. Norse already has a consumptive water use contract in place with the SRB Commission for water withdrawal, said a company spokesman.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
The commission published a second set of draft regulations on its website Tuesday and plans to vote on them later this month. The rules are designed to allow drilling in the watershed while protecting water quality in the Delaware and its tributaries.
The DRBC has declared a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling projects in the four-state Delaware River basin until the rulemaking process is complete. The DRBC has jurisdiction because the drilling process will require the withdrawal of huge amounts of water from the watershed's streams and rivers.
The commission published initial draft regulations last December. It revised them after getting public input. However, in late May, the AG filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal government agencies that regulate the Basin “for failing to perform a full review of actions that may cause significant environmental impacts, such as hydraulic fracturing.”
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said the DRBC’s second draft of regulations still lack an environmental impact study, which he said is required by law.
“By issuing these modified draft regulations, the federal government continues to ignore New Yorkers’ concerns about the impact fracking may have on our environment, health and homes,” a press release from the AG’s office states. “Without it, the federal government does not have a complete understanding of the health and safety risks fracking poses, even as it stands to open up the Delaware River Basin to thousands of new gas wells.”
Only a sliver of the Chenango County land leased for future natural gas development is within the DRBC. The vast majority of Norse Energy, Inc.’s holdings (the company most active here) fall within the Susquehanna River Basin. Norse already has a consumptive water use contract in place with the SRB Commission for water withdrawal, said a company spokesman.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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