Tens of thousands of new jobs would be created in the Empire State if regulators decide to allow shale development, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reported in the final draft of its report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Wednesday.

The department also issued additional documents addressing economic and community impacts, and extended the public comment period to Dec. 12. Four public hearings on the supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS) will be held in counties in the Marcellus Shale region and in New York City, but the DEC has not yet announced the dates and locations.

The core recommendations contained in the 1,537-page SGEIS were unchanged from the draft version of the report that was issued in July (see NGI, July 4). Those recommendations include requiring operators to disclose the chemicals used in fracking, prohibiting drilling in all primary aquifers, the watersheds of New York City and Syracuse, and all state-owned land.

In its report on economic impacts, the DEC said between 14,000 and 54,000 jobs could be created in the Empire State if fracking were allowed to develop under a low or average scenario, respectively. Those figures include jobs directly and indirectly tied to the shale gas industry. Employee earnings under the low scenario would total about $622 million, while the average scenario could net about $2.49 billion for workers.

The DEC estimated that personal income tax receipts could increase between $24 million and $125 million, depending on the level of development. Local governments would benefit too, the agency said, pegging their gains in sales tax revenue at about $1.45 million over the 30-year life of a typical horizontal well.

On community impacts, the DEC said it hoped to help mitigate transportation issues by requiring operators produce detailed transportation plans and ensure that the roads they plan to use can accommodate the proposed truck traffic. The agency encouraged operators to enter into road-use agreements where possible.

The DEC also outlined its plans to help mitigate noise and visual impacts from fracking, including a proposal that it may decide to limit simultaneous development of well pads and wells that are in close proximity to each other. Additional measures, such as specific time frames for well site construction, could be implemented in the future.

The natural gas industry indicated that it was largely supportive of the DEC’s findings and planned to participate during the public comment period. “The DEC acknowledges that natural gas can be developed safely and responsibly,” said Mike Doyle, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council, a division of the American Petroleum Institute. Brad Gill, executive director for the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA), added that New Yorkers “are open-minded about the benefits that natural gas exploration can bring to the state.”

John Holko, president of Lenape Energy Inc. and an IOGA board member, told NGI that the DEC’s job creation figures “seem to be conservative. My belief is that they didn’t want to overstep the bounds because a lot of what is going to happen in the area they are focusing on is just going to be a layover from Pennsylvania.”

But Holko added that the thought the SGEIS “was very interesting. It looks like [the DEC] believes they can mitigate any negative impacts on a community, and the economic impact is very positive.”

The SGEIS is to provide the framework for DEC’s high-volume fracking permit process. In July 2008 then-Gov. David Paterson ordered the DEC to complete the SGEIS, which effectively placed a moratorium on drilling horizontal wells in the New York portion of the Marcellus Shale (see NGI, July 28, 2008). Paterson requested the SGEIS because the original GEIS was completed in 1992, before technological changes in shale development. In the closing days of his term Paterson extended the SGEIS deadline until July 1 (see NGI, Dec. 20, 2010).

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