Envir. groups have say at budget hrg.

ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) - Environmental and energy groups and state and local officials are next in line to have their say on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed 2012-13 budget.

The ninth of 13 legislative hearings is being held Tuesday in Albany on Cuomo's $132.5 billion budget proposal.

Notably absent from Cuomo's budget proposal was any mention of newfound wealth anticipated from shale gas development. Nor were there allocations for regulating the natural gas rush if shale gas extraction using high-volume hydraulic fracturing is allowed to begin this year.

Shale gas development has been on hold in New York since the Department of Environmental Conservation launched an environmental impact review in 2008. A decision on whether to allow drilling to proceed could come later this year, but there is no set timetable.