CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

As prospectors fan out over the Marcellus Shale stretching across the Southern Tier and points south, New York state regulators are trying to stay one step ahead.

A bill in the state Assembly addresses the massive space requirements of wells employing newly developed technology to drill horizontally for natural gas. Currently permitting regulations -- drafted for horizontal wells -- are broken down into 40-acre units. That is enough to encompass a typical gas pool a single horizontal well would be expected to tap.

Determining underground boundaries of a well is crucial as companies calculate royalties for property owners above the gas.

Because horizontal drill rigs can extract gas from an area that extends well beyond 40 acres, regulators have to issue permits under a non-conforming use, a process that requires more time and paperwork.

The bill, A10526, is intended to allow more uniform development of the Marcellus and, ideally, allow single wells to be spaced on 640-acre tracts, said bill sponsor William Parment, D- North Harmony.

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