NY State Senate Bill 2015-S4347

Senate Bill S4347

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Prohibits publicly owned treatment works from accepting wastewater associated with the exploration, delineation, development, or production of natural gas

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Energy And Telecommunications Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to energy and telecommunications
Mar 16, 2015	referred to energy and telecommunications

2015-S4347 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Services
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S6893
2013-2014: S4658
2017-2018: S3908
2019-2020: S2351
2021-2022: S2914
2023-2024: S7336

2015-S4347 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits publicly owned treatment works from accepting wastewater associated with the exploration, delineation, development, or production of natural gas from high-volume hydraulic fracturing; provides exceptions.

2015-S4347 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S4347

TITLE OF BILL:

An act relating to wastewater treatment

PURPOSE:

Prohibits publicly owned treatment works from accepting wastewater
associated with natural gas production where high volume hydraulic
fracturing is utilized.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 provides that no publicly owned treatment works shall accept
wastewater associated with the exploration, delineation, development,
or production of natural gas where high-volume hydraulic fracturing is
utilized.

Section 2 provides that a publicly owned treatment works may appeal to
the department for an exemption from section 1 of this act if certain
standards are met.

Section 3 defines high-volume hydraulic fracturing.

Section 4 provides the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Any activity that has the potential to impact New York State public
drinking supplies must be met with the highest scrutiny.  High-volume
hydraulic fracturing involves the high-pressure injection of over
300,000 gallons of water and a variety of chemicals into rock to
stimulate the production of natural gas. The resulting wastewater
contains high concentrations of salts and dissolved solids which, if
improperly treated and released, could impact our water supplies and
pose a serious threat to public health. Hydraulic fracturing fluids
cannot be adequately treated by conventional biological treatment
methods. A small number of publicly owned treatment works (POTW)
employ chemical treatment methods for industrial waste, however, they
are currently unable to safely handle hydraulic fracturing fluid.

This bill's three year ban on POTW treatment of hydraulic fracturing
fluid comes in response to uncertainty expressed by experts in the
field as to whether this waste can be properly treated and what
technology is necessary to do it. The POTW ban will ensure public
safety and protect the environment while allowing the Department of
Environmental Conservation the necessary time to evaluate best
technology standards for POTWs.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-14: S. 4658 Energy and Telecommunications / A. 8463 Environmental
Conservation
2011-12: S. 6893 Finance / A. 10210 Environmental Conservation

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:


To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.

2015-S4347 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  4347

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 16, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  MARCELLINO  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommu-
  nications

AN ACT relating to wastewater treatment

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, no publicly
owned treatment works shall accept wastewater associated with the explo-
ration, delineation, development, or production  of  natural  gas  where
high-volume hydraulic fracturing is utilized.
  S 2.  A publicly owned treatment works may appeal to the department of
environmental  conservation  division  of  water  for  an exemption from
section one of this act if it can meet a standard  of  performance  that
shall  permit  no  discharge  of  pollutants,  or if not feasible, shall
reflect the greatest degree of  effluent  reduction  achievable  through
application of the best available demonstrated control technology, proc-
esses, operating methods, or other alternatives.
  S  3.  For purposes of this act, "High-volume hydraulic fracturing" or
"(HVHF)" means hydraulic fracturing for  natural  gas  extraction  using
greater  than 300,000 gallons of water regardless of whether the well is
vertical, directional or horizontal.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.




 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04254-02-5

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.