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.”