Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that his administration has "made no decision with hydrofracking."

Gov. Cuomo says "science is going to dictate" his admininstration's decision on hydrofracking.But he also didn't deny a New York Times report on Wednesday that the state is considering allowing the controversial drilling practice in handful of Western New York and Southern Tier counties. 

That report noted that the watersheds of New York City and Syracuse would be off-limits to drilling, as would Catskill Park and historic properties.

In the counties where drilling could proceed -- Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga -- drilling would only occur in towns that permit it, and drilling would be confined to the deepest parts of the Marcellus Shale formation to lower the potential for groundwater contamination.

Speaking on the Fred Dicker radio show on Thursday, Cuomo acknowledged that if hydrofracking does come to New York, the state must first decide whether to challenge the local laws and resolutions that dozens of communities have passed banning the drilling process.

The environmental community reacted to the unofficial plan with a number of questions, but not outright opposition.  Rob Moore, the executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, told the New York Times that while his group is not in a rush to see fracking in New York, he does recognize that natural gas is going to be part of the state's energy mix.  “So it’s not really an option to say ‘no way’ to natural gas," he added.

If fracking were allowed in New York, our state must draft and enforce tough regulations to ensure that our natural resources are not compromised. That's a key demand in NYLCV's New York State Policy Agenda.