CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

As the state looks at the effects of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, all eyes have been on an environmental impact statement meant to serve as a blueprint for the controversial technique to move forward in New York.

But with the release Wednesday of the Department of Environmental Conservation's latest 1,537-page draft came this news: The agency will release a new document in October that could be even more important as the state inches toward allowing high-volume hydrofracking.

The DEC will move next month to put out a set of proposed regulations that would give its enforcement efforts more teeth, but it has environmentalists concerned that the state is moving too quickly.

The regulations, which DEC officials say will include all of the recommendations included in the agency's environmental impact statement, would have the same force as law when finalized. As it stands, the current document includes guidelines to follow if the agency permits high-volume hydrofracking, but not hard-and-fast rules that must be followed in any circumstance.

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