Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City earlier today confirmed what environmentalists had hoped for and industry officials feared: the state will miss the Nov. 29 deadline to finish the rule-making process for high-volume hydofracking.

Cuomo told reporters earlier today that the state is moving forward with its health assessment and has retained experts to review the impact of the controversial natural gas-extraction process.

If the assessment wasn’t completed by Nov. 29, it would throw the entire process back open to public comment.

“That process is going to be going on,” Cuomo said. “They’re not going to get that process done within the next week. But it is very important. This is a big decision for the state. It has potential economic benefits if the state goes forward with fracking, but we want to make sure it’s safe and we ant to make sure that the environment is protected and people are protected.”

Cuomo said he had urged state Department of Health Commissioner Nirvah Shah to move “expeditiously” but also carefully. He said there is no timeline for the assessment to be completed.

The industry group Independent Oil and Gas Association in a letter to Cuomo this week told him their trust in state government was exhausted due to the years-long rule-making and regulatory process.

“They truly wonder what type of future they now have in this state. Our companies need a signal that their state government cares at all,” IOGA Executive Director Brad Gill wrote.

But environmental groups, who believe the impact of fracking will be detrimental to both land and water, will likely be heartened following an intense lobbying campaign against hydrofracking.

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