New York may become the first state in the nation to demand that in certain situations companies that drill in New York be required to report the concentrations of the chemicals they use to state regulators.
The rules would reveal information that environmental scientists say is essential to investigating water pollution from drilling.
New York's recently released review of the environmental risks of proposed natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale in the state's Southern Tier also offers the clearest picture yet of the chemicals used in the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing.
The document makes public the names of 260 chemicals, more than eight times as many as Pennsylvania state regulators have compiled. The list, the most complete released by any state or federal agency, could help answer concerns about hydraulic fracturing in Congress and in states where gas drilling has increased in recent years.