Senator Ken LaValle: State Legislature Approves Ban on Offshore Drilling
Long Island, NY - February 5, 2019 - Senator Ken LaValle reported today that the New York State Legislature approved a ban on offshore drilling. Senator LaValle co-sponsored the measure (S2316) that would prohibit offshore oil and gas production.
Senator Ken LaValle said, “As the original lead sponsor of the legislation, I am pleased that the bill was approved by the Senate and Assembly. We have painstakingly worked to preserve and protect our pristine waters, and we certainly do not want to imperil all of our efforts to maintain clean water by allowing drilling off our shoreline. I request that the Governor sign the bill into law, so we can further protect our waters.”
Specifically, the bill would amend Environmental Conservation Law § 23-1101 to prohibit the leasing of state-owned underwater coastal lands for oil and natural gas drilling and add a new § 23-1105 to prevent the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of General Services from authorizing leases that would result in the increase of oil or natural gas production from federal waters. In addition, the bill would amend the Transportation Corporations Law to restrict the powers of such corporations to develop pipelines associated with the delivery of natural gas or oil from the North Atlantic Planning Area.