New York Court Declines to Re-Hear Land Use Case as Governor Anticipates Health Report by End of 2014
On October 16, 2014, the New York Court of Appeals denied a request by the bankruptcy trustee for Norse Energy to re-hear arguments in the landmark case affirming local zoning laws adopted by two upstate towns that prohibited oil and gas-related activities within their borders. In June 2014, the Court of Appeals issued an opinion that the New York Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law did not preempt a municipality’s home rule authority to regulate land use. Meanwhile, since June 2008, New York has imposed a de facto moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Governor Andrew Cuomo has stated that a decision on whether to lift the moratorium will not be made until the New York Commissioner of Health finalizes a study on the public health effects of hydraulic fracturing. During a gubernatorial debate on October 22, 2014, Governor Cuomo said that the highly anticipated report should be done by the end of the year, but he did not indicate whether the moratorium would be lifted at that time.