S5830-2011 Actions

• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
• Jun 20, 2011: REFERRED TO RULES

S5830-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S5830

TITLE OF BILL:
An  act  to  amend  the environmental conservation law, in relation to
allowing local governments  to  enact  or  enforce  certain  laws  and
ordinances  governing  oil,  gas  and  solution  mining; and to repeal
certain provisions of such law relating thereto

PURPOSE:
To authorize local governments to  address  natural  gas  drilling  in
their zoning or planning ordinances.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Subdivision  2  of  section  23-0303 of the ECL is replaced with a new
section that authorizes local governments to consider whether  natural
gas   drilling  should  be  a  permissible  use  within  their  zoning
ordinances. The bill  further  outlines  the  specific  areas,  should
natural  gas drilling be considered a permissible use in a town zoning
ordinance, that the municipality may by special use permit regulate.

EXISTING LAW:
State law is currently  silent  on  the  issue  of  local  governments
exerting  authority  over  natural  gas drilling as a function of home
rule.

JUSTIFICATION:
While the  state  regulates  extractive  mining,  it  has  nonetheless
granted to local governments the authority to decide whether mining is
a  compatible  use within the context of a municipality's zoning laws.
The principles set forth in a court  of  appeals  decision  clarifying
this  issue  {Gernatt Asphalt Products v.  Town of Sardinia 87 N.Y. 2d
668 (1996)} are no less applicable to oil and gas mining,  i.e.,  that
local  governments  retain  the power to control land uses under their
home rule authority. The state  also  oversees  natural  gas  and  oil
drilling, but state law is silent on the issue of local authority over
natural gas drilling, and while the courts may uphold a municipality's
authority  to  do  so,  it  is  prudent  to  clarify  the law to avoid
litigation.

The bill further outlines what a municipality may include in the terms
of a special use permit when an application is approved by  the  state
for an area where the local government has decreed oil or gas mining a
permissible   use,  including  maintenance  and  repair  of  roads  to
standards enacted by local law.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.

S5830-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 
                                         5830
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 I N  SENATE
 June 20, 2011
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 

AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
 allowing  local governments to enact or enforce certain laws and ordi
 nances governing oil, gas and solution mining; and to  repeal  certain
 provisions of such law relating thereto
 

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

 

Section 1. Subdivision 2  of  section  23-0303  of  the  environmental
 conservation  law  is REPEALED, and a new subdivision 2 is added to read
 as follows:

 2. FOR THE PURPOSES STATED HEREIN, THIS SECTION  SHALL  SUPERSEDE  ALL
 OTHER  STATE AND LOCAL LAWS RELATING TO THE OIL, GAS AND SOLUTION MINING
 INDUSTRIES; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NOTHING IN  THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE
 CONSTRUED TO PREVENT ANY LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM:

 A.  ENACTING OR ENFORCING LOCAL LAWS OR ORDINANCES OF GENERAL APPLICA
 BILITY, EXCEPT THAT SUCH LOCAL LAWS OR  ORDINANCES  SHALL  NOT  REGULATE
 OIL,  GAS AND SOLUTION MINING REGULATED BY STATE STATUTE, REGULATION, OR
 PERMIT; OR
 B. ENACTING OR ENFORCING LOCAL ZONING ORDINANCES OR LAWS WHICH  DETER
 MINE  PERMISSIBLE  USES IN ZONING DISTRICTS. WHERE OIL, GAS AND SOLUTION
 MINING IS DESIGNATED A PERMISSIBLE USE IN A ZONING DISTRICT AND  ALLOWED
 BY  SPECIAL  USE  PERMIT,  CONDITIONS PLACED ON SUCH SPECIAL USE PERMITS
 SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

 (I) INGRESS AND EGRESS TO PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES CONTROLLED BY THE LOCAL
 GOVERNMENT;
 (II) ROUTING OF DRILLING AND DRILLING-RELATED  TRANSPORT  VEHICLES  ON
 ROADS CONTROLLED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT;
 (III) REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE PERMIT ISSUED BY
 THE  DEPARTMENT  CONCERNING  SETBACK FROM PROPERTY BOUNDARIES AND PUBLIC
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD13192-03-1
 
       S. 5830                             2
 THOROUGHFARE RIGHTS-OF-WAY NATURAL  OR  MAN-MADE  BARRIERS  TO  RESTRICT
 ACCESS, IF REQUIRED, DUST CONTROL AND HOURS OF OPERATION; AND
 (IV)  CONFORMANCE  TO  ROAD CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS AS MAY BE OTHERWISE
 PROVIDED FOR BY LOCAL LAW; OR
 C. ENACTING OR ENFORCING LOCAL LAWS OR ORDINANCES REGULATING OIL,  GAS
 AND SOLUTION MINING NOT REQUIRED TO BE PERMITTED BY THE STATE.
 

S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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