Hiscock & Barclay partners, Senator Thomas F. O'Mara and Yvonne E. Hennessey, will present on the topic, "2015"”The Fate of Oil & Gas in New York," at the Independent Oil & Gas Association's 34th Annual Meeting.
Program Synopsis:
The 2014 New York State elections are likely to determine the fate of drilling in New York. Will Governor Cuomo be reelected and, if so, will that give him the political comfort to finalize the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) and greenlight shale development in New York? Who will control the Senate in 2015 and what does that mean for the SGEIS specifically as well as the oil and gas industry more generally? Also, local elections are now more important than ever in the wake of the Court of Appeals' Dryden and Middlefield decisions. The presentation will focus on all of these issues just a week after the 2014 elections and provide a glimpse of what is expected based on state and local election results.
The presentation will then highlight key developments relative to pipeline infrastructure in New York, focusing on key case law concerning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of interstate pipelines; the interplay of the state permitting process before the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the tactics being employed by project opponents to delay and ultimately stop pipeline construction within New York. Finally, the presentation will give an overview of pertinent DEC activities impacting the oil and gas industry, including the upcoming administrative proceedings for Inergy Midstream's proposal to construct and operate a new underground LPG storage facility as well as Global Companies' permit modification request for its Albany Terminal and the use of rail for transportation of crude oil.