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

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S6895-2011 Actions

• Jun 5, 2012: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Apr 4, 2012: REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

S6895-2011 Meetings

Environmental Conservation: Jun 5, 2012

S6895-2011 Votes

S6895-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S6895

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 OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To prohibit the use of wastewater for road and land spreading.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 defines "flowback fluid," "high-volume hydraulic
fracturing," and "production brine" or "produced water."

Section 2 prohibits the use of wastewater associated with high-volume
hydraulic fracturing for the purpose of road and land spreading.

Section 3 provides the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
Production brine, or produced water, contains high
concentrations of salts that make it a useful agent for de-icing and
dust control. Production brine, however, also has properties that
raise public health concerns. The department notes in the draft
Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement that production
brine may contain elevated concentrations of naturally occurring
radioactive materials (NORM) such as radium and its decay products.
The department further states that activities with the potential to
concentrate NORM need to come under regulatory oversight to ensure
adequate protection of workers, the general public and the
environment. Moreover, independent testing has identified increased
levels of hydrocarbons such as benzene in production brine from
drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale. In recognition of the
potential health impacts from releasing production brine into the
environment, this legislation will prohibit its use for road- a~d
land-spreading. This legislation further prohibits the use of
flowback water, which contains high concentrations of chemicals used
in hydraulic fracturing, for these purposes as well.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S6895-2011 Text

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

                                    6895

                              I N  SENATE

                                April 4, 2012
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by Sens. GRISANTI, SALAND -- read twice and ordered printed,
    and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Environmental
    Conservation

  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.
    S  2.  The  environmental  conservation law is amended by adding a new
  section 23-0315 to read as follows:

  S 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.
    S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.



   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD14158-05-2