Last week, Norse Energy filed its Notice of Appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals. .  In its notice of appeal, Norse seeks review of the Third Department’s decision in Norse Energy Corp. USA v. Town of Dryden, upholding the lower court’s determination that the Town of Dryden’s ban on hydraulic fracturing was not expressly or impliedly preempted by the Oil, Gas and Solutions Mining Law. Continue Reading Court of Appeals to Hear Fracking Ban Case?

The Champlain Hudson transmission line has received initial approval from the New York State Public Service Commission.  The transmission line will be capable of transmitting 1,000 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec to New York City.   Estimated to take at least three years to construct, the 335-mile line will be built under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, and could provide up to 10% of New York City’s power demands and reduce power costs in that market.   The plan’s approval is controversial, however, leaving some to wonder whether New York’s own generating plants could, with upgrades to the State’s transmission grid, provide the same energy more reliably, and less expensively, from right here in New York State.

In an effort to retain its title as the country’s number one yogurt producer, New York State recently relieved dairy farmers of certain state permitting obligations. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation increased the number of cows which constitute a Concentrated Animal Feed Operation under state regulation from 199 cows to 299 cows.  The regulations, which can be found online become effective May 8, 2013. Continue Reading More Cows Allowed Under CAFO Regulations

Albany celebrated Earth Day this week by verbally acknowledging that New York State is no closer to permitting fracking today than it was last year.  Senate Environmental Chair Mark Grisanti recognized that a de facto moratorium exists in New York State concerning the natural gas resource, with the Cuomo Administration delaying its decision on how to proceed until more health and environmental studies are complete. Continue Reading NYS Fracking Standstill