ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is a socio-legal examination of the regulatory moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and shale gas activities within New York State as an example of precautionary regulation. It considers the enactment of this state-wide ban on hydraulic fracturing and the regulatory response of rural communities to hydraulic fracturing in the adoption of the Municipal Home Rule Law, which has empowered rural communities to pass self-administered laws for the protection and enhancement of community general welfare by banning oil and gas extraction. This analysis also provides an excellent case study of self-regulation by the Joint Landholders Coalition Of New York, demonstrating collective ‘bottom-up’ action and the power of landholder groups to collectively negotiate community oil and gas leases. This chapter is significant since it provides important and salutary examples of the role of local communities in influencing the trajectory of state government legislation in response to the challenge of shale gas.
