Last week, Norse Energy filed its Notice of Appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals. . In its notice of appeal, Norse seeks review of the Third Department’s decision in Norse Energy Corp. USA v. Town of Dryden, upholding the lower court’s determination that the Town of Dryden’s ban on hydraulic fracturing was not expressly or impliedly preempted by the Oil, Gas and Solutions Mining Law.
The Court of Appeals is unlikely to consider Norse’s request until its August session. Historically, the Court accepts only 6-7% of appeal petitions, though Norse stresses in its Notice of Appeal that this is a novel issue of statewide importance worthy of the Court’s consideration. According to FrackTracker, over 150 municipalities in New York State have passed bans similar to those at issue in the Town of Dryden decision. A smaller amount of municipalities have passed resolutions supporting the use of the controversial method of oil and natural gas drilling. Needless to say, all eyes will be on the Court of Appeal as it considers whether to accept Norse Energy’s appeal.