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Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WF-125th AD), sent a letter to Governor Cuomo Monday, urging that the public be given the opportunity to comment on the scope of the Final SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) before it is adopted and, to have the Public Health Review guide New York's shale gas extraction decisions in the years to come and not just "at this time," as Commissioner Martens stated on December 17th of last year.

DEC currently proposes to accept public comments for ten days after the Final SGEIS is adopted, but the proposal would take effect without revision. "This approach seems to me inadequate for this monumentally important matter because public input would not be incorporated into the Final SGEIS," Lifton said.

"I feel strongly that public participation is warranted at this critical final juncture so that the SGEIS proceeding can be concluded openly, transparently and with full assurance that all appropriate shale fracking concerns are properly addressed," Lifton stated.

Lifton continued, "Tens of thousands of government officials, academic researchers, health care professionals and citizens in my district and across the state expressed grave concerns about both the original Draft SGEIS, as well as the subsequent Draft SGEIS "revised". Those draft SGEIS documents contain information that has not been updated for more than five years. Given these widespread and deep-seated concerns, it is critically important that the public have a chance to comment on the scope of the final SGEIS."

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