Today, Governor Cuomo announced his selection of Joseph Martens for Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Among Mr. Marten’s duties will be overseeing the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) for the natural gas drilling permit process in the Marcellus Shale. As a member of the Environmental Conservation Committee, I appreciate the governor’s swift action to appoint a new commissioner for DEC. I look forward to working with Mr. Martens to meet the many environmental challenges our state faces and to help the agency in the wake of recent devastating budget cuts.