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The Business Council opposes this legislation which would require wastes produced from oil and natural gas activities to be classified as hazardous as set forth in the Environmental Conservation Law.
There is no basis to amend current regulations to hold that waste from drilling is hazardous. The Department of Environmental Conservation has found the material generated from drilling poses no great threat to human health. DEC has determined that there are no chemical issues inconsistent with construction and demolition disposal requirements in both water-based and oil-based wastes.
This bill unfairly singles out one source of waste for this heightened classification. If the intent was to reclassify those wastes that may potentially pose a greater harm to the public, the bill would have called for review of all products, not just focusing on drilling waste.
This bill is premised on bad science and misinformation. For these reasons, the Business Council opposes adoption of this legislation.