The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC) has released a series of documents related to its Preliminary Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) issued in September 2009. From the Executive Summary: "The final SGEIS will apply statewide, except in areas that the Department proposes should be off-limits to surface drilling for natural gas using HVHF technology. As explained below, these areas include the watersheds associated with unfiltered water supplied to the New York City and Syracuse areas pursuant to Filtration Avoidance Determinations issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ('EPA'), reforestation areas, wildlife management areas, state parks, and 'primary' aquifers as defined by State regulations, and additional setback and buffer areas."
From the related press release:
"Protecting Drinking Water
- Well water protection and other water protection: No permits would be issued for sites within 500 feet of a private water well or domestic use spring. No permits may be issued for a proposed site within 2,000 feet of a public drinking water supply well or reservoir at least until three years of experience elsewhere have been evaluated. No permits will be issued for well pads sited within a 100-year floodplain.
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- Spill control: All new guidelines will require that flowback water on site must use watertight tanks within a secondary containment. No open containment may be used. A secondary containment will also be required for all fracturing additive containers, additive staging areas and flowback tanks to ensure any spills of wastewater or chemicals at the well pad do not migrate into water supplies.
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- Regulating Water Withdrawals:
- New Legislation: Pursuant to the Governor's signing of DEC's Water Withdrawal legislation, which the State Legislature recently passed, a special permit will be required to withdraw large volumes of water for industrial and commercial purposes to ensure there are not adverse impacts.
- Permit Condition: All withdrawals from surface water bodies will be subject to limits to prevent impacts upon ecosystems and other water quantity requirements. Identification of the water source an applicant intends to use will be required and an annual report must be issued on the aggregate amount of water it has withdrawn or purchased."
As with everything else, it looks like the devil's in the details ...