---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: William Huston williamahuston@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Subject: 226 new DEC staffers needed and $25M
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20110913/NEWS01/109130379/DEC-226-new-workers-needed-fracking-enforcement?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p
Written byJon Campbell
The internal estimate was given by the agency to members of its hydrofracking advisory panel Tuesday and viewed by Gannett's Albany Bureau.
The document laid out a five-year plan to bring the department up to the necessary workforce level to deal with an expected spike in activity by the natural-gas industry. The state has been reviewing the much-debated hydrofracking technique for the past three years, and is expected to begin issuing permits at some point next year.
In the fifth year, the DEC expects it will have to spend $25.3 million on additional salaries, non-personnel costs and equipment purchases, according to the document.
The DEC would not confirm the figures and an agency spokeswoman stressed that nothing is final.
The document was provided to the advisory panel, which comprises representatives from outside groups and local governments, when it met for the second time at DEC headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting was not open to the public.
The 18-member panel is charged with making recommendations on just how many additional staffers the DEC will need, and how it can generate revenue to pay for them given the state's difficult financialsituation. The agency then plans to take those recommendations into consideration as it crafts its budget proposal in December.
The DEC has been hit particularly hard by staff cuts in recent years, losing 806 full-time employees since April 2008. The department currently has 2,969 full-time staffers.
Rob Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, questioned whether the additional staffing level sought by the DEC would be enough to regulate the industry, given that the agency has lost about 20 percent of its full-time workforce over three years.
DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens defended the agency's decision to hold simultaneous comment periods on an environmental review of hydrofracking and an upcoming set of proposed regulations for the technique(*), saying it will lead to a more efficient use of state resources and that the documents go hand in hand.
Martens also said the department is not considering an extension of the comment period, scheduled to end Dec. 12
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(*) HUH??? Simultaneous? Has anyone heard about this?
How can we comment on the regs when they are absent?
--
William Huston WilliamAHuston@gmail.com
Binghamton NY Phone: 607-321-7846
SocialNet: http://facebook.com/billhuston
Videos: http://youtube.com/billhuston http://vimeo.com/billhuston
Bio/blog: http://binghamtonpmc.org/bio.html http://WilliamAHuston.blogspot.com
Binghamton-area discussion; spirituality topics: http://tinyurl.com/STNYlightworkers
Binghamton Public Access TV is Open-To-Everyone! http://www.O2ETV.org
From: William Huston williamahuston@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Subject: 226 new DEC staffers needed and $25M
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20110913/NEWS01/109130379/DEC-226-new-workers-needed-fracking-enforcement?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p
ALBANY -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation expects it will need an additional 226 staffers within five years if high-volume hydrofracking moves forward in New York, according to a document provided to an agency task force.
The internal estimate was given by the agency to members of its hydrofracking advisory panel Tuesday and viewed by Gannett's Albany Bureau.
The document laid out a five-year plan to bring the department up to the necessary workforce level to deal with an expected spike in activity by the natural-gas industry. The state has been reviewing the much-debated hydrofracking technique for the past three years, and is expected to begin issuing permits at some point next year.
In the fifth year, the DEC expects it will have to spend $25.3 million on additional salaries, non-personnel costs and equipment purchases, according to the document.
The DEC would not confirm the figures and an agency spokeswoman stressed that nothing is final.
The document was provided to the advisory panel, which comprises representatives from outside groups and local governments, when it met for the second time at DEC headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting was not open to the public.
The 18-member panel is charged with making recommendations on just how many additional staffers the DEC will need, and how it can generate revenue to pay for them given the state's difficult financialsituation. The agency then plans to take those recommendations into consideration as it crafts its budget proposal in December.
The DEC has been hit particularly hard by staff cuts in recent years, losing 806 full-time employees since April 2008. The department currently has 2,969 full-time staffers.
Rob Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, questioned whether the additional staffing level sought by the DEC would be enough to regulate the industry, given that the agency has lost about 20 percent of its full-time workforce over three years.
DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens defended the agency's decision to hold simultaneous comment periods on an environmental review of hydrofracking and an upcoming set of proposed regulations for the technique(*), saying it will lead to a more efficient use of state resources and that the documents go hand in hand.
Martens also said the department is not considering an extension of the comment period, scheduled to end Dec. 12
-------- end --------
(*) HUH??? Simultaneous? Has anyone heard about this?
How can we comment on the regs when they are absent?
--
William Huston WilliamAHuston@gmail.com
Binghamton NY Phone: 607-321-7846
SocialNet: http://facebook.com/billhuston
Videos: http://youtube.com/billhuston http://vimeo.com/billhuston
Bio/blog: http://binghamtonpmc.org/bio.html http://WilliamAHuston.blogspot.com
Binghamton-area discussion; spirituality topics: http://tinyurl.com/STNYlightworkers
Binghamton Public Access TV is Open-To-Everyone! http://www.O2ETV.org
--
William Huston WilliamAHuston@gmail.com
Binghamton NY Phone: 607-321-7846
SocialNet: http://facebook.com/billhuston
Videos: http://youtube.com/billhuston http://vimeo.com/billhuston
Bio/blog: http://binghamtonpmc.org/bio.html http://WilliamAHuston.blogspot.com
Binghamton-area discussion; spirituality topics: http://tinyurl.com/STNYlightworkers
Binghamton Public Access TV is Open-To-Everyone! http://www.O2ETV.org
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