Bill Text: NY A03561 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Imposes a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling for natural gas until every aquifer in the state is mapped and classified by the United States Geological Survey and/or the New York State Geological Survey, and the department of environmental conservation has adopted regulations to protect such aquifers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to environmental conservation [A03561 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03561-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3561
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 29, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ENGLEBRIGHT,  COLTON,  DINOWITZ,  BENEDETTO,
          O'DONNELL, L. ROSENTHAL, GOTTFRIED, GALEF,  COOK,  JAFFEE,  CAHILL  --
          Multi-Sponsored  by  --  M. of A. GLICK, LENTOL, STECK, THIELE -- read
          once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
        AN ACT to establish a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing and
          horizontal drilling for natural gas until all aquifers are  classified
          and mapped
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law  to  the  contrary,
     2  there  is  hereby  established  a  moratorium upon high-volume hydraulic
     3  fracturing and horizontal drilling for the purpose of extracting natural
     4  gas in the state until such time as every aquifer in the state is mapped
     5  at a scale of 1:24,000 and classified by the  United  States  Geological
     6  Survey and/or the New York State Geological Survey.
     7    b. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall mean:
     8    (i)  "High-volume  hydraulic  fracturing" shall mean the fracturing of
     9  rock by man-made, pressurized, fluid-driven  fracturing  techniques  for
    10  the purpose of stimulating natural gas or oil well production.
    11    (ii)  "Horizontal drilling" shall mean a vertical well which is curved
    12  at depth to drill horizontally into natural gas-bearing rock.
    13    (iii) "Aquifer" shall  mean  an  underground  layer  of  water-bearing
    14  permeable  rock or unconsolidated material such as gravel, sand or silt,
    15  from which groundwater can be extracted.
    16    c. Notwithstanding any other provision of  this  act,  the  moratorium
    17  established  by  subdivision  a  of  this section shall not be rescinded
    18  until the department of environmental conservation:
    19    (i) receives and adopts the aquifer maps and classifications; and
    20    (ii) proposes and adopts requirements, procedures and regulations that
    21  are protective of these aquifers including, but not limited to:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07631-01-9
        A. 3561                             2
     1    (A) drilling procedures that will prevent the escape of  any  drilling
     2  fluids into an aquifer;
     3    (B)  continuous  water  testing of affected aquifers for contamination
     4  that may result from drilling operations;
     5    (C) recordkeeping of all water testing results; and
     6    (D) plans for containment and remediation of any contamination  caused
     7  by drilling operations.
     8    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.