Assembly Bill A10234

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  10234

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              May 15, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. SWEENEY -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Environmental Conservation

AN ACT to require a health impact assessment for horizontal gas drilling
  and high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. The purpose of this legislation is to inform the people of
the state of New York of any and all  potential  public  health  impacts
posed  by  the  extraction  of natural gas using horizontal drilling and
high-volume hydraulic fracturing and to provide  an  analysis  of  those
impacts.  Such  analysis  and information shall help facilitate informed
decisions regarding actions to be taken with respect to such  activities
in the state.
  S  2.    A  school of public health within the state university of New
York shall conduct a comprehensive health impact assessment following  a
model  recommended  by the centers for disease control and prevention to
examine potential public health impacts that  could  be  caused  by  the
extraction  of  natural  gas  using  horizontal drilling and high-volume
hydraulic fracturing. For  the  purposes  of  this  act,  health  impact
assessment shall mean a combination of procedures, methods, and tools by
which  a  policy,  program, or project may be judged as to its potential
effects on the health of a population, and  the  distribution  of  those
effects within the population.
  S  3.  Prior  to  the  commencement  of such assessment, the school of
public health conducting such assessment shall prepare a  scoping  docu-
ment that will establish the parameters of the health impact assessment.
The  scoping  document shall include the analyses contained in this act,
as well as any other potential analyses to be conducted,  and  shall  be
subject to public review, comment and revision.
  S  4.  Such  health impact assessment of the extraction of natural gas
using horizontal drilling and  high-volume  hydraulic  fracturing  shall
include, at a minimum, the following analyses:
  (a)  Identification and assessment of the magnitude, nature and extent
of potential localized and statewide health impacts  utilizing  multiple

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD15749-01-2

A. 10234                            2

methods  and  information  derived  from  a combination of public health
tools including risk assessment, scientific literature,  and  population
analysis;
  (b)   Identification   and  assessment  of  disparate  community-level
impacts;
  (c) Estimated costs of any health impacts to the state, local  govern-
ments,  health  insurers,  employers  and the state's public and private
health care systems as a whole;
  (d) Recommendations for any mitigation of potential health impacts and
the methods and evidence used to arrive at such recommendations; and
  (e) A long-term plan for monitoring, evaluating, tracking and mitigat-
ing potential health impacts.
  S 5. A draft of such health impact assessment shall  be  released  for
public  review  and comment. The school of public health conducting such
assessment shall conduct a minimum of two public hearings regarding  the
findings  of  the  draft health impact assessment and allow at least one
hundred eighty days for the public to submit comments.  Upon the closing
of the public comment period, such school of public health  shall  cate-
gorize, review and respond to all public comments. If substantive chang-
es  to  the  health  impact  assessment  are  made as a result of public
comments, such school of public health shall issue a revised draft. Such
revised draft shall similarly be subject to public comment  and  review,
in compliance with the parameters set out for the initial draft.
  S  6.  After  responding to all public comments as required by section
five of this act, and upon completion of the health  impact  assessment,
such  school  of  public health shall submit the completed health impact
assessment to the New York state department of health. The department of
health shall make such health impact assessment available to the  public
and deliver copies to the legislature and the governor for review.
  S 7. This act shall take effect immediately.