New York’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday whether local governments can ban fracking.
The seven justices on the state’s Court of Appeals will decide two cases where a lower appeals court allowed local governments ban hydraulic fracturing through zoning rules.
“The industry argues that allowing local bans will create a patchwork of regulation that will prevent effective extraction of gas resources,” the AP reported.
More than 75 New York towns have banned fracking.
New York has had a statewide fracking moratorium since 2008 while the state conducts a study of the environmental impact of shale gas development.
There’s no timetable to complete the review, a state official said earlier this year.
But Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated he may decide in 2015 whether to end the state-wide moratorium and allow fracking.
The gas-rich Marcellus shale formation runs under part of New York.
The cases before the Court of Appeals involve bans by Dryden and Middlefield in rural central New York.
