"New York’s Assembly approved a two- year ban on the natural-gas drilling method known as fracking, after two previous attempts to block the practice failed and with the state Senate taking a different approach."

"The state has been studying the safety of hydraulic fracturing since 2008, and blocked its use in the meantime. The Assembly’s ban would lift in May 2015. Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has said he’s waiting until the Health Department concludes a separate analysis to make a decision.

'We will not sit idly by and endanger the health and safety of our communities by rushing necessary health and safety reviews,' said Sheldon Silver, the Manhattan Democrat who leads the chamber. 'We need to better understand the broad impacts to our environment, our economy and the health and safety of all who work and live in New York.'"

Freeman Klopott reports for Bloomberg March 6, 2013. [2]