NY State Senate Bill 2017-S3910

Senate Bill S3910

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Prohibits the use of wastewater from high-volume hydraulic fracturing for road and land spreading

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to environmental conservation
Jan 30, 2017	referred to environmental conservation

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2017-S3910 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4745
Current Committee:: Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:: Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §23-0101, add §23-0315, En Con L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S6895
2013-2014: S4656
2015-2016: S4314, A1043
2019-2020: S5826, A596
2021-2022: S4480, A1332
2023-2024: A536

2017-S3910 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the use of wastewater from high-volume hydraulic fracturing for road and land spreading, for dust control or de-icing.

2017-S3910 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3910

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the environmental conservation law,
in relation to prohibiting the use of wastewater for road and land
spreading

 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 ban on POTW treatment of hydraulic fracturing fluid comes
as a 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 so. 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 :

2015-15:S. 4347 Energy and Telecommunications/ No Same as
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.

2017-S3910 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3910
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MARCELLINO  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conser-
   vation
 
 AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
   prohibiting the use of wastewater for road and land spreading

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 23-0101 of the environmental  conservation  law  is
 amended  by  adding  three new subdivisions 4-a, 7-a and 16-a to read as
 follows:
   4-A. "FLOWBACK FLUID" MEANS LIQUIDS PRODUCED DURING INITIAL COMPLETION
 AND CLEANUP OF THE WELL OR CLEANUP OF A  WELL  FOLLOWING  REFRACTURE  OR
 WORK OVER OF A WELL.
   7-A.  "HIGH-VOLUME  HYDRAULIC  FRACTURING"  OR  "HVHF" MEANS HYDRAULIC
 FRACTURING FOR NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION USING GREATER THAN  THREE  HUNDRED
 THOUSAND  GALLONS  OF  WATER REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE WELL IS VERTICAL,
 DIRECTIONAL OR HORIZONTAL.
   16-A. "PRODUCTION BRINE" OR "PRODUCED WATER" MEANS LIQUIDS CO-PRODUCED
 DURING OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION.
   § 2. The environmental conservation law is amended  by  adding  a  new
 section 23-0315 to read as follows:
 § 23-0315. WASTEWATER FOR ROAD AND LAND SPREADING; PROHIBITED.
   WASTEWATER  ASSOCIATED  WITH THE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL GAS USING HIGH-
 VOLUME HYDRAULIC FRACTURING, INCLUDING FLOWBACK FLUID, PRODUCTION  BRINE
 OR  PRODUCED  WATER, SHALL NOT BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF ROAD SPREADING
 FOR DUST CONTROL OR DE-ICING OR LAND SPREADING.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04365-01-7

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