Enacts the "oil and gas waste management act of 2016" to require solid waste management facilities accepting waste from oil and gas drilling operations to screen such waste for radioactivity

4 Co-sponsors

• Betty Little
• Carl L. Marcellino
• Terrence P. Murphy
• Thomas F. O'Mara

Title of bill

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the proper screening of waste derived from oil and gas drilling operations for radioactivity prior to disposal at regulated solid waste management facilities

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill is intended to ensure that the disposal of potentially radioactive materials from oil and gas drilling operations do not constitute an environmental hazard when deposited in a landfill within New York.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: Provides legislative findings such that solid waste management facilities that receive waste generated from oil and gas drilling activities should be required to implement screening and rejection criteria for radioactivity as a condition to obtaining a permit to operate such a solid waste management facility.

Section 2: Provides that this act shall be known as "the oil and gas waste management act of 2016".

Section 3: Directs the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation to incorporate screening and rejection criteria for radioactivity when issuing a permit for any solid waste management facility that intends to accept waste from oil and gas drilling.

Section 4: Provides for an immediate effective date.

Justification

Lately there has been an increasing amount of concern over the potential threats to safety from radioactive drill cuttings generated by oil and gas operations in other states which enter into the New York waste stream.

This legislation will mitigate the threats posed to the public under the current system of high volume fracturing waste transport and disposal in New York. The bill requires the incorporation of radioactive screening and rejection criteria in solid waste facility permits for any solid waste facility that accepts waste from oil and gas drilling activities. It will result in the rejection of drilling wastes which do not meet the standards imposed by the department of environmental conservation for acceptance at a landfill in New York. Screening criteria will also provide a clearer picture of the amount of potentially hazardous radioactive materials which may be entering New York's waste stream.

This bill is intended to ensure that oil and waste products do not pose an environmental danger when they come to ultimately rest in New York.

Prior legislative history

2015: S.3060 Passed Senate 2014: S.7311 Reported and Committed to Finance

Fiscal implications

Minimal.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.