The Marcellus Shale is a geologic rock formation which contains natural gas buried underground. There is a potentially significant gas resource in the Marcellus Shale region which has been roughly described as an area extending from Chautauqua County eastward to Green, Ulster and Sullivan Counties, and from the Pennsylvania border north to the approximate location of the east-west portion of the New York State Thruway between Schenectady and Auburn. This environmental impact statement was prepared to review the Dept. of Environmental Conservation's program for regulating the oil, gas, underground gas storage and solution mining wells of any depth, and brine disposal, stratigraphic and geothermal wells deepter than 500 feet. This statement addresses the request for well permits to use horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques.