High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in NYS

The SEQR Findings Statement for high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) was issued on June 29, 2015. This concluded DEC's comprehensive, seven-year review and officially prohibits HVHF in New York.

In December 2014, the Department of Health (DOH) completed a Public Health Review of HVHF, which DEC Commissioner Martens had requested. Dr. Zucker recommended that New York should not proceed with HVHF.

Background

DEC received more than 13,000 public comments on its Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SGEIS) issued in September 2009.

In response to issues raised, DEC prepared and released for public review a Revised Draft SGEIS on September 7, 2011. DEC held four additional public hearings around the state and received another 67,000 comments.

Following release of the second draft, DEC also proposed regulations to supplement and reinforce the proposed permit conditions and received 180,000 public comments. In all, DEC received 260,000 public comments on the SGEIS and the regulations. The proposed regulations have lapsed under State law.

In September 2012, Commissioner Martens asked the Commissioner of Health to determine if the mitigation DEC proposed was adequate to protect public health. As the volume of new information on HVHF grew, the scope of the review expanded to broadly consider the public health impacts of HVHF.

At a December 17, 2014 Governor's cabinet meeting, Dr. Zucker released the DOH's Public Health Report of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development (report PDF is in the press release -- link leaves DEC's website). Following the meeting, DEC and DOH issued a press release announcing the report's findings and that DEC Commissioner Martens had directed staff to complete the SEQR process in early 2015 by publishing a final SGEIS and a legally binding Findings Statement.

Please note: Some of these are large documents. Only print them if you really need to, and only those sections that you need. Double side all printing and copying jobs.

2015 SEQR Findings Statement

Findings Statement (PDF) (263 KB)

2015 Final SGEIS Documents

The individual chapters of the Final SGEIS (April 2015) can be viewed as PDFs (see below). The full 2015 Final SGEIS document is available as two large PDF files: Volume 1 (PDF) (37.9 MB) and Volume 2 (PDF) (3.4 MB). Although they are very large files, they are downloadable and searchable. Please note that new text in the final SGEIS has been underlined to indicate revisions to the 2011 revised draft SGEIS text, in accordance with the requirements of the SEQRA regulations, and vertical lines have been placed in the page margins at those locations.

2015 Final SGEIS Volume 1 Chapters

Table of contents (PDF) (408 KB)

Executive Summary (PDF) (320 KB)

1. Introduction (PDF) (1.4 MB)
2. Description of Proposed Action
   • Description of Proposed Action Part A (PDF) (2.3 MB)
   • Description of Proposed Action Part B (PDF) (2.5 MB)
   • Description of Proposed Action Part C (PDF) (2.2 MB)
   • Description of Proposed Action Part D (PDF) (1.8 MB)
3. Proposed SEQRA Review Process (PDF) (377 KB)
4. Geology (PDF) (2.0 MB)
5. Natural Gas Development Activities and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing
   • Activities Part A (PDF) (3.0 MB)
   • Activities Part B (PDF) (1.8 MB)
6. Potential Environmental Impacts
   • Potential Environmental Impacts Part A (PDF) (2.8 MB)
   • Potential Environmental Impacts Part B (PDF) (2.1 MB)
   • Potential Environmental Impacts Part C (PDF) (1.4 MB)
7. Existing and Recommended Mitigation Measures (PDF) (2.0 MB)
8. Permit Process and Regulatory Coordination (PDF) (618 KB)
9. Alternative Actions (PDF) (305 KB)
10. Review of Selected Non-Routine Incidents in Pennsylvania (PDF) (233 KB)
11. Summary of Potential Impacts and Mitigation Measures (PDF) (404 KB)

Glossary and Bibliographies (PDF) (414 KB)

Appendices 1 through 14 (PDF) (2.2 MB)

Appendix 15 (PDF) (4.2 MB)

Appendices 16 through 27 (PDF) (2.3 MB)

2015 Final SGEIS Volume 2: Response to Comments

Response to Comments (PDF) (1.7 MB)

Appendix A (Public Health Review of Shale Gas Development) (PDF) (2.8 MB)

Appendix B (Modeling of Ozone Impacts from Well Pad Activities and Associated Truck Traffic and Compressor Stations for Future Well Development Conditions in the Marcellus Shale Area of NYS) and Appendix C (Dispersion Modeling Input and Output Data, Sensitivity Analysis and Explanation of NAAQS and Toxics Threshold Establishment Process) (PDF) (3.8 MB)

2015 Supplemental Documents

• 2014 DOH Public Health Report of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development (PDF is listed under a series of reports -- link leaves DEC's website)
• 2014 DEC and DOH announces Health Department completes review of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (link leaves DEC's website)
• Document Repository for Electronic Copies (PDF) (800 KB)

Assistance

For further information or assistance with these documents, please contact the DEC's Bureau of Public Outreach by email or by calling 518-402-8044.

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