A coalition of New York landowners that supports natural gas development are blasting the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo for what may be additional delays in promulgating rules governing drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in the state.

A spokesperson for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) earlier this week said the state may not meet a required Nov. 29 deadline for the revised drilling rules, which would require the rulemaking process to be reopened to at least one public hearing, a process that could take at least 45 days (see Shale Daily, Oct. 2). Cuomo had been expected by now to issue a thumb’s up or down regarding whether drilling could proceed, but late last month DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens asked state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a probe into the health impacts from drilling, a move likely to delay final implementation (see Shale Daily, Sept. 24).

For his part, the governor previously has said he is not abandoning the idea of expanding drilling and allowing fracking in the state. However, he has said a thorough review of the proposed rulemaking was imperative to withstand expected legal challenges down the road.

During a tour of economic development projects in Syracuse, NY, on Tuesday, Cuomo elaborated on the importance of the public health review and added that the process is moving forward, according to the The Post Standard. “I think legal challenges are likely,” Cuomo told the newspaper. “And I think this will be a better review. Our lawyers say this will be a more defensible review in the event we’re challenged.”

The DEC held its last public hearing on HVHF on Nov. 30, 2011 and the public review process was said to be completed in January (see Shale Daily, Jan. 12). Under state law, the DEC has one year after the last hearing to finalize rules, although a 90-day extension is permitted. DEC officials said Shah’s review has an “undetermined” deadline.

The decision to delay the rulemaking process amounts to “serial delay tactics” and “politics and business as usual,” according to the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York Inc. (JLCNY). The Cuomo administration “seems [to have] turned its back on the farmers, taxpayers, long-time residents, retired folks and other community members who may not have Hollywood cache, but who nonetheless deserve honest, fair treatment by their elected government.”

The coalition noted that drilling opponents had been asking for health assessments “for years along with a laundry list of other studies in their ‘delay to kill’ strategy.'” Members are “baffled about how our state can ignore the biggest economic opportunity we will see in our lifetimes while we struggle to survive during the largest recession since the Great Depression. We hope Commissioner Shah is also considering the health effects of unemployment and poverty.”

The JLCNY said its message “to hypocritical opposition activists is this: If you are part of the Hollywood elite calling for delays in New York, you should be pleased that you have the governor’s ear. Unfortunately, the governor has turned his back on the landowners in New York and simply doesn’t care that we are struggling to pay the highest real property tax rates in the country, recovering from two devastating floods and watching as our communities decline, businesses flee and we bleed jobs…”