Appellate Division Upholds Right of New York Municipalities to Regulate Fracking through Zoning Ordinances

| May 16, 2013

Municipalities in New York have received the green light to regulate fracking – even to the point of banning it – through local zoning ordinances.  It’s a second consecutive victory for municipalities in the New York courts, and an affirmation of New York’s long history of vesting decision making powers in local governments through Home [...]

Extension of New York State Fracking Moratorium Passes State Assembly, But its Ultimate Fate is Unclear

| March 25, 2013

On March 7, 2013, the New York State Assembly passed legislation to extend the moratorium in place on high pressure horizontal hydraulic fracturing – hydrofracking or fracking – of shale that has been in place since 2008. Though the bill, Assembly Bill 5424-A, passed the Assembly by a wide margin of 95 to 40, the [...]

Deadline for Statewide Fracking Regulations Extended

| January 31, 2013

On November 29, 2012, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation missed its deadline under state law to finalize regulations for hydrofracking in New York. However, shortly before the deadline, it filed a Notice of Continuation with the Department of State to secure a 90 day extension for the rulemaking process. During this 90 day [...]

Binghamton Fracking Ban Struck Down in New York State Supreme Court

| November 14, 2012

Fracking proponents recently succeeded in overturning Local Law 11-006 the city’s ban on fracking,  but this ruling is unlikely to drastically alter the landscape for municipal fracking regulation in New York outside of Binghamton.

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Update – Decisions Upholding Zoning Bans on Fracking in NY Appealed

| June 29, 2012

Previously in our “Fracking NY” Blog Series, we summarized the two recent New York Supreme Court cases — Anschutz Exploration Corp. v. Town of Dryden, 940 N.Y.S.2d 458 (Sup. Ct. Tompkins Co. Feb. 21, 2012) and Cooperstown Holstein Corp. v. Town of Middlefield, 2012 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1420 (Sup. Ct. Otsego Co. Feb. 24, 2012), [...]

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Update – Federal Regulations

| June 25, 2012

Since our last post regarding the current federal regulations of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (i.e., “fracking”) for extraction of natural gas from shale, there have been several developments on the federal level. 

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 6 – Courts Uphold Two Local Zoning Bans on Fracking in New York State – Town of Middlefield (Part II)

| March 7, 2012

So far in the Periconi, LLC “Fracking NY Blog Series,” we’ve outlined state, interstate, and federal regulation of high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”).  We now turn to yet another layer of potential regulation of fracking in New York State: local zoning ordinances.  Two towns – Dryden and Middlefield – which have enacted zoning [...]

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 6 – Courts Uphold Two Local Zoning Bans on Fracking in New York State – Town of Dryden (Part I)

| March 7, 2012

So far in the Periconi, LLC “Fracking NY Blog Series,” we’ve outlined state, interstate, and federal regulation of high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”).  We now turn to yet another layer of potential regulation of fracking in New York State: local zoning ordinances.  Two towns – Dryden and Middlefield – which have enacted zoning [...]

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 5 – Delaware River Basin Commission Proposed Regulations

| December 19, 2011

We’ve discussed proposals from the State and Federal governments for the regulation of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for natural gas (i.e., “fracking”), but there is another level of authority that has something to say about fracking operations in New York State – the Delaware River Basin Commission.  This post will discuss the proposed amendments to [...]

“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 4 – Summary of Federal Regulations

| December 6, 2011

So far in our blog series on “Fracking NY,” we’ve presented a general background of the issues, a summary of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (“DEC”) Draft Revised SGEIS on fracking, and a summary of the DEC’s proposed regulations for fracking.  We now turn to discuss the federal regulation – or lack thereof – of [...]