Scott Waldman is reporting at Capital New York New York state's fracking ban may be more of a freeze. Since announcing the ban in December, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has resisted calls by environmentalists to change the law and make the ban permanent. The state is soon to release its final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for fracking and, shortly after that, a findings statement that will lay out the reasons for the state's decision to prohibit the practice in New York. The documents are expected to be used by anti-fracking advocates in other states to push for more bans, but they will also form the basis of the fracking industry's legal challenge to the ban. As things current stand, New York's prohibition is effective as long as Cuomo keeps it in place, but could be revisited and changed by a future administration. State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Joe Martens recently acknowledged that the ban could be lifted. He said it would largely depend on the outcome of ongoing, long-term studies on the health effects of fracking. Waldman writes that business groups will first use the courts to test the ban, but will lobby New York's next governor to lift it, if necessary. Read the full story at Capital New York.