Gov. David Paterson has until Monday to either sign or veto the gas drilling moratorium bill passed by the Legislature. (We wrote earlier, based on information in a story by the Elmira Star-Gazette, that the deadline was today. But the Times-Union reports today that he has until Monday. We're not sure if something has changed, or if the Star-Gazette goofed.)
The Times Herald-Record says the governor is still waffling:
His office was blasted Friday with requests to sign or veto the bill that would prevent the state from issuing permits for the horizontal drilling method of hydraulic fracturing, called fracking, until May.
Paterson, who had been expected to sign the bill because he questioned the safety of drilling, is apparently considering a compromise, said one drilling opponent, Bruce Ferguson of Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy.
Paterson would veto the bill because it would ban permits for all drilling, including traditional vertical drilling, not just horizontal "fracking," Ferguson said. Then Paterson would issue an executive order to ban horizontal "fracking" until July, while allowing other forms of drilling in New York.
The Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin reports that if Paterson passes the moratorium, it could give drillers a legal pretext for extending their leases in the state, many of which are soon to expire:
Attorneys representing gas companies and landowners agree: if Gov. David Paterson signs the bill currently under consideration, it would bolster industry claims of force majeure.
A French phrase meaning "superior force," force majeure is a legal clause in some mineral rights leases that allow the terms to be extended under certain unforeseen circumstances that prevent normal oil or gas drilling operations.
"I would fully expect that there will be a number of gas companies that will say, 'We're going to invoke the force majeure clause in our lease,'" said Robert Wedlake, an attorney for Hinman Howard & Kattell who represents local landowner coalitions. "I think that's a reality."
