Many of us — especially those concerned with protecting New York’s fresh water supplies — have been working hard, through an inadequate regulatory process, to fend off the threats of high volume horizontal hydrofracking.
In the meantime, few have heard anything about the second set of regulations, proposed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These concern the issuance of permits for withdrawals of very large amounts of water from New York State’s rivers, ponds, lakes, and aquifers.
Comments on water withdrawal regulations are DUE Monday, January 22, 2012. Tell the DEC we need more time to make sure we get the best protections for our clean water legacy.
Since the hydrofracking industry is expected to be one of the state’s largest new water withdrawers, the DEC should have provided the public with more notice regarding these regulations. The draft water withdrawal regulations were issued quietly on November 23, 2011 — during the Thanksgiving holiday week and while the public focused on the hydrofracking dSGEIS comments.
These regulations could go into effect as early as February 15, 2012. The DEC will not hold public hearings on the draft regulations, nor will they develop draft permits in time for public comment.
In short, DEC is fast-tracking another review of great importance with little concern for public process. Despite this, there is good reason to believe that the water withdrawal regulations can be improved by our intervention!
Please send a message to DEC expressing your concern and urge them to slow down!
Thank you for all your efforts in protecting the quality of our water, our environment, and our lives.
