It appears that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) will very likely face multiple legal challenges to its long-delayed issuance of a final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“SGEIS”) for the High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (“HVHF”) regulatory program.  Lawyers representing the Bankruptcy Trustee of Norse Energy Corp. USA filed a letter with DEC Commissioner Martens demanding that he identify “a date certain in the near future when the SGEIS will be completed so that the many permit applications that were filed by Norse may be pursued.”  “Absent a definitive and reasonable timetable” from DEC, Norse has declared its intent to sue the agency in state court seeking an order to compel finalization of the SGEIS. Continue Reading Lawsuits Over Hydraulic Fracturing SGEIS Imminent: Joint Landowners Threaten Suit Before Year End

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed Alfred Griffin to head up New York’s Green Bank.  Griffin comes from Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.  This key appointment is an important step in moving the Green Bank forward, which is a $1 billion initiative to leverage private investment to grow New York’s clean tech and renewable energy economy.  Read more at http://www.acore.org/news-media/press-releases/4084-acore-applauds-alfred-griffin-s-appointment-as-the-president-of-the-new-york-green-bank.

Earlier this week, Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) lent their support to a revamped version of the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act.  The bill was reintroduced earlier this year by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).  The bill would expand the master limited partnership business structure to renewable energy projects, and “level the playing field.”  Currently, the structure is available to traditional fossil-fuel based energy projects, but specifically excludes renewable projects. Continue Reading Additional Support for Opening Up MLP Structure to Renewables

Earlier this year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the State would be  creating a Green Bank to leverage private sector financing for renewable and other related clean energy projects. The Green Bank was identified in the Governor’s State of the State address as a key component to growing the State’s clean energy economy. Continue Reading New York State Moves Forward to Capitalize Its Green Bank

By Myriah V. Jaworski

In what will be a precedent-setting decision of national importance, today the New York State Court of Appeals agreed to hear Norse Energy’s appeal of the Third Department’s decision upholding the Town of Dryden’s municipal ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas extraction. The Third Department and lower State Supreme Court both upheld the Town’s ban on hydraulic fracturing on the grounds that a full blown ban on an activity does not constitute “regulation” for preemption purposes under New York State’s Oil, Gas and Solutions Mining Law. The validity of the Third Department’s reasoning, and the Town’s underlying authority, will be reviewed by the Court of Appeals sometime this fall. Continue Reading Update! – New York State Court of Appeals Takes On Fracking Ban Case

Newly confirmed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy recently delivered a speech on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating jobs in the energy industry. According to Energy In Depth, her remarks included the statement that:

“Responsible development of natural gas is an important part of our work to curb climate change and support a robust clean energy market at home. It also has huge potential to help power our factories and our vehicles, while at the same time cutting our dependence on foreign oil.” Continue Reading New EPA Administrator Touts The Benefits of Natural Gas

As part of its RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative (“RE-Powering Initiative”), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has released an updated RE-Powering Mapper (“Mapper”) tool to assist with redevelopment of contaminated sites with renewable energy. EPA’s RE-Powering Initiative promotes the reuse of potentially contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites for renewable energy through a combination of tailored redevelopment tools for communities and developers, as well as site-specific technical support. Continue Reading The EPA’s Updated RE-Powering Mapper

Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated Audrey Zibelman to the New York State Public Service Commission (“PSC”) and she was recently confirmed by the New York State Senate.  It has been widely reported that she would be named Chair of the PSC.  The Albany Times Union is reporting that Ms. Zibelman will not be taking over in August as planned due to injuries suffered in a car accident, and that current PSC Chair Garry Brown will continue to serve as Chair until Ms. Zibelman can assume her position.

 It is not clear what changes or initiatives Zibelman may have been planning, but it seems likely, given Brown’s holdover status, that there will be status quo in the interim. 

ACORE_logo_SQ_GREEN.jpgThe American Council on Renewable Energy (“ACORE”) has adopted a new strategic plan.  The objective of the plan is to identify the issues affecting the renewable energy industry over the next ten years and position ACORE to effectively work with the renewable energy industry to deliver the value and benefits of renewable energy.  The plan identifies four principal areas that ACORE will focus on: Continue Reading ACORE Adopts New Strategic Plan

EM-2009-01-energy_globe_business.jpgThe U.S. EPA greenhouse gas regulations provided biomass facilities with an important incentive – a unique “deferral” from having to achieve established CO2 emission limits. For certain biomass facilities not being regulated for CO2 emissions had significant benefits from both a capital and operational cost perspective.  There likely are a number of biomass facilities which currently owe their financial viability to the deferral. Continue Reading Biomass Facilities Lose CO2 “Deferral”